Heaven in hiding
by GallifreyanDemigoddess
Summary: From the moment God created the Earth, it was known that Dean and Sam were similar enough to Michael and Lucifer to be their vessels. Their sister, Lily, was not a vessel, but she shared a profound bond with one archangel. She loved her family and would do anything for them, but she wasn't strong enough to endure their fights. She ended up running away, just like an archangel had.
1. The beginning

**_Disclaimer:_** _Supernatural does not belong to me._ _Only the plot and some characters, like Lily, are mine._

 _Summary:_ From the moment God created the Earth, it was known that Dean and Sam Winchester were similar enough to Michael and Lucifer to be their vessels. Their sister, Lily, was not a vessel, but she shared a profound bond with one archangel. She loved her family, and would do anything for them. But she wasn't strong enough to endure the way the fought with one another, so she ran away, just like an archangel had, a long time before. Slightly AU.

 _English is not my native language, so forgive me for any mistake I might make._

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 **Chapter 1**

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With a deep sigh, a young woman closed the door behind her back, leaning against it for support as her limbs protested against each move she made, wanting nothing more than to rest for at least twelve hours. She didn't need to look down to know her blouse were smeared with blood- _her_ blood.

She forced herself to move away from the door, acknowledging the fact that she needed to heal her wounds before she could rest.

She aimed blindly for the light-switches, and upon finding them and turning them on, her eyes protested against the sudden brightness, black dots appearing on her vision for a small moment. Once she regained her senses of where she was, fighting against her exhaustion and her blood-loss, she managed to find the first-aid kit she had on the cupboard close to the fridge, and pulled it out as she moved towards the small living room and collapsed against one of the couches.

There, she took her jacket and blouse off. She looked down at her stomach, only to feel disgust drip down her throat as she saw she still had one claw stuck in her stomach. It was there, piercing her skin. If she pulled it out, she knew the blood would only come out faster than it had, but leaving it there wasn't an option.

She forced herself to take several deep breaths before gently touching her fingertips against the claw, wincing when the contact sent a bolt of pain through her whole body. It took her a moment, then she gathered her courage and pulled it out as fast as she could, gasping. She was swift to grab a tissue, putting it over the bleeding wound as she looked for the necessary things to disinfect the wound- to then stitch it up.

The house-phone rang.

The sound made her jump several feet on the air, her grip on the stitching needle wavering. She looked towards the beeping machine, then pursed her lips. It appeared she'd been too concentrated on herself to realize someone was calling her. However, it had to wait, unless she wished to bleed to death. She looked down at herself once more as she started to stitch herself up, choosing to ignore it, knowing that whoever was calling would, most certainly, leave a message if it was something important.

Just as she expected, by the time she was done with her wounds, the machine beeped once again, then the message they'd left echoed through the whole living room:

" _Lily? It's me, Dean_."

The young woman straightened into a sitting position, breathing deeply through her mouth and swallowing the pain coming from her stomach, carefully pressing a hand against it to protect her wound from opening again.

Distinctly, she wondered why her brother would call her after years of not bothering to.

The last time they'd talked had been when their younger brother, Sam, had abandoned them to go to college, which had made their father extremely furious. Lily had been happy for Sam, but had remained away from them. She didn't want to choose a side: she loved her father and her big brother, but her little brother also had a right to do what he wanted with his life.

 _She_ had a right to do what she wanted with her life.

That was something her father never seemed to care about, that was something that always haunted her back when she was younger and still lived with them.

That, along with the never-ending fights, had been what drove her away from them.

 _"Listen, there's a possible job here in Springfield, California. We figured that you'd know about it since your boyfriend lives close to the university we're going to investigate. Your presence might help us a lot. So, if you want...you can join us."_

The thought of seeing her brothers again tempted her greatly, though she had no desires of seeing her father after their last argument. Then there was the possibility of seeing her ex-fiancé, which bothered Lily more than the prospect of seeing her absent, unlovable father.

But she _did_ know the university they were going to investigate. She did know what had happened there; she'd been wondering if it could be a case since reading the news and realizing how strange the suicide seemed to be. She was actually planning on going there and investigating, but then a new case had surged close to where she was, and she'd been forced to deal with it- thus, her newest wound.

" _We miss you_ ," Dean added as an afterthought. " _It's just Sammy and me now."_

That was something new.

Last thing Lily had known, Sam had a cute girlfriend with whom he was deeply in love with, and he was about to enter the most important stage of his career as a law student. He had retired. It made no sense for him to go back to hunting...unless something had happened.

Lily decided to answer the call.

It took her several seconds to control her raggedy breathing as she forced herself to move from the couch and towards the phone.

"Dean?"

She couldn't hide how hesitant she sounded, which only made her older brother more uncomfortable, she could hear it on his voice as he continued:

" _Are you gonna to join us_?" Dean wanted to know. There were no questions about her well-being, there were no questions about her location, no questions about anything involving the years they'd been separated. _That_ was the older brother she remembered, the brother that was never good at properly expressing his emotions, the brother that refused to do anything remotely close to a chick-flick moment.

That was the Dean she loved.

More at ease now, Lily rested back against one of the walls.

She was glad he had not asked questions about her life- she did not know how to explain how utterly boring and normal her life was- as normal as the life of a hunter could be.

A sudden thought crossed her mind, making her frown.

"Will our father be joining us?" Lily demanded. "Because if he is, I'd rather stay here."

There was a long silence on the other side of the line.

Then: " _Lily- our father died_."

The news was so unexpected that the young woman didn't know how to react for a long time. She felt herself spiral into a thousand different emotions- no matter how much they constantly fought, how much she disliked how he'd raised them, he was her _father._

The only thing that managed to come out of her mouth was a soft, incredulous: "How?"

" _We tried to call you when it happened_ ," Dean continued, not answering her question. " _When we couldn't reach you, Bobby said he'd tell you_."

Truthfully, the relationship between Lily and John Winchester had always been a complicated one. The old hunter used to say that she reminded him of her mother, which would've been a compliment in another situation, but to which he never acted like it was a good thing. Ever since being young, she had taken it upon herself to protect her brothers, to be the feminine figure they never had- to be their mother, even when she was only the middle child.

She could never forgive the way that John had made their lives miserable as they grew up. How he had never acted towards them with much love; he'd always been absent, hunting, leaving them behind to fend for themselves.

The _most_ he had ever done for them was train them to be hunters, like he was, and that hadn't been an act of kindness- all he ever wanted was to get revenge on the demon that had killed Mary Winchester, and turning his children into hunters only amplified the possibilities of achieving said revenge.

In general, she could never forgive him for destroying her- and her brothers'- childhood.

However... It did not matter how much grudge she still held over her father, how frustrated he made her feel; he was her father and she had loved him.

All she could manage to say was: "Well, he didn't."

She didn't know what to believe.

Her father was dead.

No one had deemed it important to tell her of his death.

Not her brothers, not Bobby, no one.

It made no sense.

Sam and Dean _should_ have tried to find her in person if they couldn't reach her on the phone. She _deserved_ to know when things like that happened; just because she was away it didn't mean that she was no longer their family.

She was a _Winchester_ , she was John's _daughter_.

The fact that it was only in that moment that she found about the death of her father made her believe that, from the very beginning, they didn't want her to know about that particular event.

Lily forced herself to push those thoughts away. There were more important things to concentrate upon; no matter how hurt she was by that discovery, she had to concentrate on the other parts.

"What happened to our father?" The words came our harsher than she'd intended them to. Her real question being clear for both parts: _What sort of monster was powerful enough to destroy him?_

There was clear hesitation on Dean's voice when he responded: " _Our father died to protect us."_

A snort came out of Lily's mouth. "I would've thought he died because of his obsession with the yellow-eyed demon."

Dean's silence made her frown. Before she could express her doubts, he continued, " _We had an accident. We were in the hospital, I was about to bite it- but then dad summoned the yellow-eyed demon and made a deal with it. His life in exchange for mine._ "

"I see," Lily said, though in fact, she did not see how that could've been possible. Her father was not one known for making selfless actions. He'd never done anything good for them, it was always about himself. She pushed her doubts aside, wondering if perhaps she had underestimated him. "I'm glad you're alive, Dean."

The sincerity on her voice softened the conversation, making the tension between both ends of the line dissipate.

"How's Sam?"

Dean chuckled before answering. " _Currently drooling on his sleep as we talk. Dude's_ fine _."_

It was a short answer, one that didn't please nor appease Lily's concern, but it was all she would get through the phone. She knew that to get all the answers she desired, she would have to be in person with them.

" _We'll be in campus in a few hours..._ " Dean broke the silence surrounding both lines of the phone. The offer was still clear on his voice, though he made no attempt to ask her again.

"I already made some research," Lily cleared her throat, choosing to focus on that rather than the other parts of their conversation. "Besides, I know Crawford Hall like I know the back of my hand, Caleb works there."

Dean's tone turned lighter, as though her words relieved him. " _So, you're coming?"_

It took her a moment to decide.

It had been ages since she'd hunted with them, and truthfully, she missed their dynamic as a group.

Part of her wondered if they'd changed their tactics now that John wasn't there to observe their moves, but disregarded that thought. After all, their father never had any complaints about their hunting methods- he only complained about Lily's.

Seeing her brothers again could be a good thing; she _wanted_ to see them.

Lily found herself nodding softly, her bottom lip between her teeth. "Yeah, I'll be there."

The probability of running into Caleb was extremely high- last she knew, he was still working at Crawford Hall- but it was a risk she was willing to take if it meant being reunited with her brothers once again.

She had missed them too much.

" _Perfect_!" Dean sounded cheerful, and Lily pictured his brilliant smile. With a pang of melancholy, she realized how much she had actually missed him. His smile always made her smile, even when it was a forced one. He'd been her protector since forever- hers and Sammy's- and, as a product of that, knowing her brother was happy made her feel safe; as if the whole world would be all right as long as Dean Winchester smiled. " _Are you close?"_

"Um, I'm two hours away from Springfield. But I have something to take care of- so I'll be there by tomorrow morning."

Since the young woman had already been considering taking that case even before her brother called, she'd already packed everything she needed for the trip- however, she needed to rest and to make sure her wound was completely healed before heading out towards another town- the least she wanted was to bleed out on the road.

After planning to meet by a local coffee shop close to Crawford Hall- where the "suicide" had taken place- they ended the call.

Lily stood there, in the middle of her apartment, holding the house-phone between her hands.

Her thoughts were abruptly cut short when a piercing shot of pain coursed through he whole body, settling on her exhausted limbs and on her wounded stomach.

Her lips breathed out a tired sigh.

It wouldn't be long before she would collapse, she really needed to sleep and rest her exhausted body. It had been weeks since she'd had hunting job that wasn't about vengative ghosts; she'd almost grown used to the easy stuff- she'd almost gotten herself killed by refusing to train and practice how to destroy other dangerous creatures.

The monster she fought had defended itself rather passionately, though she wasn't sure if their fight had been hard because she had grown used to simply exorcising demons and burning bones of ghosts, or if it had been hard because she as simply weak.

John would've told her that she was weak.

That's what he constantly reminder her- that she was weak-, so that's what Lily had grown to believe.

Haunted by the memories that threatened to overcome her senses, she moved towards the kitchen, where she instantly poured herself a glass of vodka.

It was her defense mechanism- she learned that alcohol could heal almost every kind of pain.

That time, however, she relished in the soothing burn that settled over the place where the monster's claw had pierced her skin.

Almost too soon, her thoughts went back to her brother's words.

 _We miss you_.

But if that was true, why hadn't they bothered to call before?

A startling realization came to her- she hadn't called them either.

Truthfully, both parts were to blame for the lack of contact between one another.

Sighing deeply, she drowned her glass and moved away from the kitchen.

It was better if she didn't dwell on those thoughts. Her family was always a sore topic for her, it always made her want to run from their never-ending problems and their fights.

Sam and Dean had always been more closer to each other than they had ever been to her, though it had been John's fault at the beginning, now she fervently believed that the was nothing she could do to successfully integrate herself into their dynamics...there was nothing she could do to get closer to them. They were no longer the teenagers that could bond over stupid things, they were men with diverse interests and diverse thoughts about the world.

Thoughts that were probably very different from Lily's own beliefs.

 _Shoot first, ask questions later_. That was Dean's motto. It had also been John's.

Lily had her own personal motto: _Ask first, shoot later_. For she never wanted to kill something- or someone- innocent. It was better to ask and consider the situation before attacking.

John mocked her thoughts, telling her that that way of thinking would get her killed- but _he_ was dead, and _she_ was still alive, so she chose to feel triumphant over that particular realization.

Perhaps her father wasn't right about everything.

Sam was a mixture of both- sometimes, he would shoot without hesitation, but other times, he would listen first and then choose if he wanted to believe a monster's excuses.

The only thing the three of them had in common was their desire of saving people. It was a far-stretched thought, but perhaps they could bond over that.

That was the only thing she found herself looking forwards for the next day: Restoring what she'd accidentally broken when she decided to leave their side.

Perhaps there could still be hope for them.

Perhaps her brothers could still see her as the woman that had, quite literally, raised them. She had always been the middle point, being exactly two years younger than Dean, and two older than Sam.

When her big brother needed her, she was there. And when their younger brother needed them, Lily and Dean were always there for him, but they were there _together_. It had always been like that.

It wasn't always easy, considering their life story: their mother had died back when they were just kids. She could still remember the sleepless nights when she had to crawl into John's bed, alongside Dean, because of redundant nightmares about the horrible demon-made fire that consumed their home and that took their mother. Back then, their father had been too full of grief to be able to do something else that was not comfort them. He'd cared about them, he'd loved them, he'd been there for them.

But then he was hit with the powerful desire of revenge, and everything changed.

He started leaving them alone, going out for hunts, and Dean had taken it upon himself to protect them, to be their rock, to raise them.

When Lily was old enough to comprehend what was happening, to comprehend how hard her older brother had it by taking care of them when he was basically still a child himself, she took it upon herself to help him. In that way, Dean had been able to rely on her when his patience run short, or when things got too difficult or painful for him to deal on his own. She had his back.

And _together_ , they raised and protected Sam.

When John disappeared for weeks, it fell upon Dean's and Lily's shoulders to look out for their little brother. Then, when their father would agree to take Dean out for a hunt, but not them, since they were younger, they stayed together and were there for each other, which made the situation easier for everyone. It only got a little harder when John also started taking Lily out for hunts, leaving the youngest boy, Sam, alone.

The point was: she had always been there for both parts.

But years had passed, years in which she had not been there for them, in which she had not been an active part of their lives.

She couldn't help but to feel like the shittiest person on the whole planet.

...

Springfield's University had been Caleb's favorite college to work at since he discovered how safe its environments were. It was, as the young man often mentioned, one of the safest campus in all of the United States of America, if one didn't take in consideration the alarming rates of sexual assaults that plagued its walls. Personally, he never cared much about the students, he only cared about his job. Everything could fall to pieces for all he cared- as long as his job was secured, nothing else mattered.

That's how Lily knew he would be somewhere around Crawford Hall, desperately seeking ways for people to ignore the tragedy that had just happened days before that moment.

If people gave it much thought, they'd start to see all the other horrible things happening on campus, and the student's population could drop considerably- meaning, Caleb could lose his job.

Her brothers weren't in Crawford Hall when she arrived, which made her think that they were probably having breakfast at a local cafeteria, or sleeping on their motel rooms- it still relatively early, so she didn't worry much about their lack of presence.

Instead, she walked around campus, exploring its walls and- using one of her fake FBI badges- interrogating possible witnesses about the professor's alleged suicide.

Lots of people seemed to believe the pointless rumors about a haunted room- room 669, the last digit turned upside down being 666- but Lily cataloged it as a load of bullshit.

There had only been one witness: a janitor.

No one could say exactly _who_ it had been- the whole campus was full of janitors-, which made the young hunter extremely nervous. It could be her ex-fiancé for all she knew.

God, she hoped it wasn't Caleb who found that professor.

Interrogating him would be as tedious as hearing another student talk about the room 669.

She really didn't want to see him.

Around mid-afternoon, she was making her way towards a local cafeteria to get lunch when she caught a glimpse of her brothers in the distance, bickering as usual while they moved towards the Impala.

Excitement coursed through her veins, which quickly mixed with nervousness, and she found herself frozen on her spot, just watching them.

Then, as Sam opened the passenger's door of the car, she seemed to react.

She shouted: "Sam! Dean!"

They turned and saw each other, on different ends of the street.

Sam's face brightened with a smile. He closed the door and quickly approached her side, and, before anything else could be done or said, he grabbed her and enveloped her into a tight hug.

She giggled and happily returned the hug, her concerns dying away as her brother's warm embrace made everything better.

"Fucking hell, Sam. Every time I see you you get taller." She wanted to say something better, something more meaningful, but the words died on her throat. "And your hair, Jesus, it's so long."

Dean snickered at the gigantic eye-roll Sam did at those words. He pushed past him, and for a small second, Lily was conscious of the fact that her brother was examining everything about her; doing exactly what she was doing, trying to see how much about her had changed.

Then he drew her into one of his bear-hugs, and everything else melted away.

Her doubts, her anger, her concern, her bitterness. Everything about the previous night and their conversation burned away, leaving space only to the comfort that being with her brothers always offered her. All she could concentrate upon was their presence there with her, and how happy they seemed to see her.

 _They were happy to see her!_

When they separated, Lily sighed contentedly, and smiled. "My boys. It's so good to see you."

Sam had eyes only to her, his young face bright with delight. "I'm surprised to see you here," He added after a small pause, "Dean never mentioned you had accepted our offer."

"It was a surprise," Dean waved away the raised eyebrows his sister sent him, and smirked. " _Surprise_ , Sammy."

Lily attempted to hide an amused snort, then thought about how to answer to that statement. She found herself shrugging as she tried to find the right words.

At last, she said: "I'm surprised to be here, too. But I'm glad I am, I missed you guys."

"So-" Dean, always the hater of chick-flick moments, interrupted the sweet response that Sam had in mind. Both younger siblings rolled their eyes almost in complete sync, then he continued. "What d'you got?"

"Well," Lily was down to business now. They stared to walk together towards the Impala, which the young woman took as an invitation to accompany them to wherever they were headed. "Some students seem to believe a local legend about a haunted room- but it's basically bullshit."

"Tell us about it on our way." Dean knew that no matter how fake a superstition could seem, sometimes they were, in fact, the real deal.

Sam added for her benefit, "We're gonna to get lunch."

Dean rolled his eyes before she could open her mouth, "Yes, Lily. You are included when we say we're gonna get lunch. Just get in the car. I'm hungry."

The young woman and her younger brother hesitated before the woman blurted out a: "Shotgun!" before he could even open his mouth, which, at the end, made him groan in defeat as he moved towards the backseat of the car.

Dean raised his eyebrows at them, surprised at how easy it had been to restore their never-ending fight for who sat on the passenger's seat.

It was good to know some things hadn't changed.

"So, here's the thing-" Lily cleared her throat, looking down at the paper she'd used to write things down to remember as part of her FBI disguise. "Apparently, this woman was having an affair with a professor thirty years ago, when he broke it off, she jumped out the window and killed herself. Now, if it didn't sound so stupid with the whole 669 room, I'd believe it."

Sam raised his eyebrows in contemplation. "That's how the professor killed himself, by jumping out the window."

"Yeah, but we don't know if he was having an affair," Dean pointed out. "Did you get the girl's name?"

"No," Lily sighed irritably. "No one knows her name. Like I said, it's probably just a load of bullshit. Urban legend that's actually a legend and not more. Besides, that room doesn't exist- the building only has four stories."

Sam and Dean made grimaces of contemplation. "Maybe it is just a suicide."

"I don't know," Lily was being sincere as she said so. She hadn't been able to get much information before she found them. "Maybe. We'll just have to check his room for any signs of EMF-"

"Do you think your boyfriend could let us enter the room without making much fuss over it?" Dean interrupted her, glancing at her before looking back at the road. "I left my fake badges back at the motel room."

"No wonder there," Sam said snidely. "You forget everything."

"Forgive me," Dean stressed sarcastically, "For not being as obsessive as you-"

And just like that, they were bickering.

Sam expressed his annoyance at Dean having to delay their trip to campus because he'd been hungry.

Dean expressed his annoyance at Sam for not being hungry and for wanting things done his way.

Sam complained about his snores. _When had they even entered the topic of their sleeping habits?_

Dean complained about Sam complaining about his sleeping habits.

At first it was an amusing sight- something Lily was used to, for there had always been all sorts of prank wars and playful bickering between them; but then all playfulness died away, their words being laced with several signs of real irritation and annoyance.

"Boys?" Lily interrupted quietly. They stopped instantly, and she felt their eyes on her. She raised her eyebrows, then gestured around in general. "What the hell is wrong with you two?"

They seemed to realize they had gotten a little carried away with one another, and shame overcame their senses.

They'd forgotten how much she hated to see them bickering. Since she was little, she would always step in the middle of their fights and end them, claiming that it destroyed her to see them like that.

They sensed that their constant fights- not just between each other, but with John too- had been what drove her to run away from them.

"It's nothing," Sam quickly tried to fix the situation, forcing a smile into his face. The least he wanted was for her to go away again. "We're just a little tired, that's all."

"Yeah," Dean caught what he was trying to do, and continued. "We've just been..." He sighed, "We've been on the road for too long. Tight quarters, all that."

Sam ended with a soft: "Don't worry about it, Lily."

She sensed that it was more deep that then were making it seem, but decided to let it pass. She _loathed_ interfering on their problems with one another, so she sought something to break the tension with.

At last, a thought came to her, and she smirked before looking out of the window and staring at the moving landscape.

"You two should get a divorce."

Dean made an exasperated sound. "You see, we're like Siamese twins, there's no divorce for us."

Sam groaned irritably. "It's _conjoined_ twins," He said it like it was something he had already tried to explain his brother before.

The blonde man looked to the side and met his sister's eyes. "See what I mean?"

This time it was Lily who rolled her eyes. "Idiots."

"Bitch," Dean shot back, not missing a beat.

Sam smacked the back of Dean's head, which was probably dangerous considering he was driving, and called him a "Jerk," for insulting their sister.

For a small moment, the three of them bore identical smiles of secrecy. It had been ages since Lily had been part of their nickname game, and the moment felt too precious to be broken.

It was a little silly and juvenile, but it meant something to them.

They reached the local cafeteria, a place where the young woman had eaten many breakfast and lunches at, back when she still lived with her ex-fiancé. It was nice and cheap, so she figured her brothers would like the place.

They exited the Impala after a short conversation about food- Dean hoped there would be pie; Sam primordially wanted coffee.

Lily smiled as she guided them towards the doors, happily greeting the familiar waitress that guided them to one of the empty tables and offered them the menu.

Once they were settled there, the waitress took their orders- Lily was surprised Dean was still so strong and well-built considering he ate the greasiest, most unhealthy food on the menu.

"Anyways," Lily pursed her lips. Her brothers turned to her, ready to discuss the situation again. "Caleb won't let us into the room." It was a lie, he _probably_ would if she asked him, but she did _not_ want to ask him. "But you two don't have to dress up as FBI to enter the room, I have a better idea."

Sam leaned towards her, interested. "What do you have in mind, sis?"

Lily was full-on grinning now, which made a distant memory echo though Dean's mind. He seemed to realize what her idea consisted of, and groaned loudly. " _No_ , Lily."

She pouted at him. "Oh, come on, don't spoil the fun."

Sam looked between the both of them, feeling excluded as he didn't know what they were thinking about. "Wait, why won't Caleb let us into the room?"

"We broke up years ago," Lily blurted out. "So, yeah. Might be better not to ask him."

Dean was full-on grinning, like she used to be moments before, and muttered a soft: "Pity," that lacked the very definition of the word and the emotion.

Sam hid his smirk behind his cup of coffee.

"Anyhow," Lily pressed on, not wanting to discuss her love life with her brothers, who had never liked any of her partners before. "If you don't want to go with my plan," She was looking at Dean now, "Then _what_ do you suggest?"

She didn't dare play the part of a FBI officer again. It had been a week since the incident happened, and that morning she had been the only "officer" around asking questions- the real officers seemed happy to believe it had been a suicide and nothing more.

Besides, there were about other million ways they could approach the situation- as a couple of journalists wanting to report the suicide on the news, as nosey people, etc, etc.

She wanted to play by their rules, though, to see how they would approach the situation and to be part of their schemes.

They always made their job more entertaining that she did- she was usually all down to business and nothing more. Sam and Dean tended to fully involve themselves with the case and its victims.

"I heard the professor's family was religious, prepared a whole bunch of crap for his funeral," Dean shrugged. "Perhaps you could play dress up and distract them while Sammy and I snoop around his office." He always loved seeing his sister dressed as a nun, it was hilarious.

"Okay, first of all," Sam raised his eyebrows. "There can't be a nun at the scene because suicide is seen as a sin in most religions, and-"

Dean was rolling his eyes bluntly at him now. "Do you have to blow a hole in all of our plans?"

Lily decided to interrupt them before Sam could make one of his usual retorts to Dean's words.

"So, I'll be a nun-" She actually thought about it. "You two could pretend to be electricians, that way there would be no need for snooping around. Any janitor would let you enter the room if you're working on maintenance for it."

Sam's head snapped to the side to meet her gaze. "Seriously? You'll play dress-up?" He was trying to hide a smile- he, too, found it immensely hilarious when she dressed as a nun.

Lily shrugged. "I like it more than pretending to be an electrician. I don't know shit about that. And, besides, Sam is right, but in all honesty, I'm tired of pretending to be FBI, people tend to keep asking why the FBI would be interested in a suicide case, which is hard to answer."

Her brothers focused on the least important part of her words, as they usually did. They had that incredible talent of concentrating on other things when she talked.

Sam snickered quietly. "Imagine Caleb's face if he sees you like that."

Dean snorted, eyes crinkling in amusement.

Lily found herself unable not to roll her eyes, though she was betrayed by the amused smirk that cornered her lips.

In that exact moment, the waitress came with their food, smiling politely at them.

"Thank you, love," She told the waitress as she placed her order in front of her, a brilliant smile on her face.

Dean made several sounds of disapproval, which made his younger sister raise her eyebrows at him. "No flirting, young lady. You're a woman of God."

Sam choked a laugh as he took a bite of his meal. "Never thought I'd see the day where my biggest dream would come true: our dear sister Lily, on the right path to salvation-"

"-and happily pried from the chance of being romantically and sexuality involved with anyone," Dean finished for Sam, a content sound slipping from his throat as he savored the greasy hamburger in front of him. He smirked at Lily, then moved to clink his glass with Sam's. "Cheers for that."

Lily was looking at the waitress when they said that, but then she turned to them with a small smirk upon her lips. "Oh, boys. My flesh is too weak to be not uninvolved with anyone." And to make her point go through, she winked at the waitress- who kept finding ways of looking back at her- and relished on the blush that covered her cheeks.

Dean grimaced. "That's definitely not what I wanted you to say."

Sam looked equally traumatized. "Me neither."

Lily gave them a playful smile, tilting her head to the side as she innocently muttered a, "Sorry?"

It was easy to be around them, to pretend they had never been apart at all.

All of her doubts were dissipating as if made of thin air, replaced by a feeling of contempt that she had not felt in a long time.

They seemed to be just as comfortable in her presence as she was in theirs, which only made her feel happier about the whole ordeal.

Perhaps she'd worried too much about the lack of communication they had those years she was away.

Perhaps nothing was wrong.

She wasn't sure about anything, but she hoped to be right in her assumptions. Being with her family again felt better than anything else in the world ever had- she didn't want to lose that feeling again so soon after regaining it.

Something about her brothers' soft smiles made her think that they had missed her as much as she had missed them, and that they were equally happy to have her with them as she was of being there.

Had John been there, he would've never smiled at her in such a way- he wouldn't have talked to her, at all, unless she apologized.

And she was _not_ going to apologize for choosing herself over his insane plans of revenge. Perhaps it had been a selfish decision, but she had been finally _free_ after leaving them. Their fights and their never-ending problems had weighed her too much, eventually making it hard for her to be around them, to breathe their same air, to be aware of the tension that practically lived in the air around them.

Sam and Dean she could tolerate- somehow their fights were never that serious. The bond that both shared never let them be annoyed at each other for longer than a week.

It was John who had always been Lily's dipping point- it had been her father who had pushed her over the edge, destroying the little happiness she had allowed into her young life. His fights were the most horrible ones, his drunken stupor making him both disgustingly cold and harsh towards his middle child.

So she had done the only reasonable thing at the moment: she had chosen herself.

She had decided that it was enough, that she had enough of their fights, that she had had enough of her father treating her like garbage.

She had abandoned them, in a way, and she would never forgive herself for that. But she had also freed herself, she had found peace within herself and within the world- peace she could never find by their side.

Perhaps that was her greatest sin: choosing herself over her own family.

That was her only regret- not being there for them when they needed her.

"Hey," Sam nudged her gently. "You okay?"

"I just-" Lily stopped herself. There were so many things she wanted to say. Her doubts came back with full-force, leaving her breathless for a moment.

Her brothers seemed to know.

Sam looked at her attentively, tilting his head to the side in contemplation; there was only kindness on his eyes.

Dean stared at her, a small scowl upon his forehead, as though he could not understand the way her sister thought; his eyes were guarded, as they usually were.

Her brothers seemed to _know_. But they made no motion to encourage her to continue speaking- it was only then that she realized that she wasn't the only one that didn't know what to do with their situation. Sam and Dean were lost, too. Neither of them knew how to test their situation, what to make of it. They didn't know if there had to be actual words to settle their complicated relationship- or to be more precise, the lack of contact they'd had over the years.

Lily leaned towards them a little, hesitating as she started to speak. "I know that sorry is just a word against a million actions, but I need you two to know that I am sorry for abandoning you two when things got difficult." The young green-eyed woman had never been good at verbally expressing her emotions, each word seemed to weigh her and to make her feel stupid- there were really just no words that could completely explain how terrible she felt for her previous actions. "I just hope I can make it up to you two, in any way."

"Lily-" Sam sighed, shaking his head.

"Listen," Dean started, sighing heavily. "There's nothing to apologize for, Lily."

"No. I chose myself over you two."

Her statement made them froze, both brothers looking devastated after those words and after the way her voice broke as she said it.

She was desperate to make them see her point, she was desperate for them to stop looking at her as though she hadn't hurt them when she abandoned them.

For all of their lives, she had been the _only_ one in their family that both of them could trust and rely on when they couldn't rely on each other. She had raised Sam along with Dean, who had, respectively, raised both of them. She couldn't begin to imagine how they must've felt once she left.

She continued after a small pause: "I chose myself over my own family. And I will never be able to forgive myself for that."

Sam shook his head, looking away.

"Lily," Dean's voice was soft, all previous traces of his devastation long gone. "We forgive you."

"We never blamed you," Sam exploded, making both siblings startled. The youngest Winchester cleared his throat, looking startled by his own outburst, then sought out more words to properly explain himself. "We know what dad was doing to you, we know how he treated you."

Lily looked away at those words, an uncomfortable lump settling on her throat.

Dean took it upon himself to continue. "We know why you disappeared, okay? We know you needed time to yourself, you needed a life. We can't blame you for wanting that."

Sam offered her a kind smile, taking one of her hands between his own and squeezing gently. "I literally _cannot_ blame you. You know I abandoned Dean and dad to go to college?"

"You wanted a normal life," Lily shook her head, trying to pinpoint how different their situations were. "I just wanted to be away from him."

She never meant to lose contact with them, it had just happened.

At her words, something crossed Sam and Dean's eyes almost simultaneously. She'd forgotten how freaking similar they could be sometimes. It was there, the shadow of doubt, but for once, she couldn't understand what about her statement had confused them.

"So you've been hunting all these years?" Dean frowned. He shared another look with Sam, something passing through them. "We thought you had settled. Bobby told us you had a house."

"No, I have an _apartment_ ," Lily stressed, deciding to leave her argument behind; their initial topic had changed for a reason, perhaps it was for the best. "I crashed some days at Caleb's house, from time to time, but I never actually moved there."

"You were hunting?" Dean repeated, as though her answer could be important.

Her answer was a tight nod, not understanding why it was so important for him to know that.

Sam took her by surprise by saying: "W-we thought you had a normal life."

"I'm a Winchester. A _hunter_." She shrugged with her whole body, from her shoulders to her hands to her head, which she tilted to the side. "There's no normal for us."

"What-" Sam pursed his lips. His voice was soft, which meant he wanted to ask something personal or important. She gave him her utmost attention, nodding slightly at him to continue. "What happened with Caleb?"

As far as Sam and Dean knew- as far as Bobby had told them- Lily had retired.

To know that she had never had that, to know that she'd been hunting, out of all the things she could've been doing, was a very startling discovery. None of them knew what to make of it.

They would've felt better if they knew that their absence from her life had a meaning- had she been happy and with a chance at a normal life, they would've never dared to approach her again, fearing to taint her good luck. But now that they knew that she had never been seeking a normal life, they felt horrible for never reaching out to her.

Lily hesitated before leaning back against the chair, looking down at her plate. She took a few seconds to find the right words to explain her failed relationship with Caleb, then managed to come out with: "We just didn't work out."

"What happened?" Dean inquired, looking concerned. He knew, better than anyone else, that there were a million things that could go wrong when a hunter tried to live a normal life.

"Caleb is a good man," Lily thought that she needed to make that clear. "We just weren't made for each other. He wanted to have things that I cannot- that I could not, at the time- give him."

The young man wanted a _family_ ; he wanted a big house with a grandiose garden, he wanted to have dogs and cats, and maybe even parrots- he loved those birds- and beyond all, he wanted _kids_.

He wanted unconditional love, he wanted stability.

He wanted normality, he wanted a safe environment to grow old in, he wanted a long, safe, and normal life.

Lily Winchester could never give him any of that.

She could never be the housewife that he expected her to be. (She was no domestic woman, she barely knew how to boil water) She could never have children of her own to raise and care about, (the fear of demons and monsters appearing to harm them would be unbearable.)

There were too many threats in the way- as a hunter, she had too many enemies to be able to form a normal and safe family.

Hell, she couldn't even form a healthy, stable relationship.

It had been more of a long-distance relationship, now that she came to think about it. She used to spend a couple of days on his house, then a job would come out and she'd spend days- it not weeks- on the road.

That hadn't been fair to him.

She tried to give him what he wanted; she tried to leave the hunting life behind and settle with him (that's how much she had loved him), but everything had backfired horribly.

"Were you-" Sam hesitated, wondering how he could ask politely. His initial thought was Jess- it _always_ was when it came to troubles in the hunter's attempt at a normal life. "Was there an attack?"

The young woman shook her head, relieved that there had been no attacks directed to her former lover. "No. We simply came to a mutual agreement. We were never going to work out and we knew it. The wedding was canceled, the relationship ended, etc, etc, etc." She shrugged unaffectedly. "That was four years ago. I've been on the road ever since."

There was a small pause between them.

The oldest of them concentrated on his food, taking his time to savor the bite he took off it, while trying to find something to say to that at the same time.

He could see that it didn't bother her anymore, but that doesn't mean that it hadn't pained her when it happened.

He knew how much she used to love her ex. The fact that she had accepted to his marriage proposal showed how deep her love was. (When she was little, she claimed that she was never getting married. It had mainly been Bobby's fault: he mentioned how many couples he'd seen fall out of love and live a miserable life together, which had frightened her. Needless to say, Dean and John had been happy to know she would never get married. She was the middle child, but she was also the only _girl_ in their family.)

A different thought came to Dean, "You've been alone ever since?"

It wasn't meant to sound like a concerned or pitiful statement, yet that was exactly how it sounded.

It was probably how it looked like, too.

A young woman, running away from her family at every little inconvenience that came her way, failing at every romantic relationship she had, consequently meaning that she was alone.

They knew how the hunter life was; it was monotone, repetitive, consuming.

Sam and Dean were sure that- despite how frustrating it was to be around each other all the time- they could only stand it because they were together, they had each other to keep one another entertained.

Lily had been _alone_.

How boring and monotone it must've been.

How _unbearable_.

They didn't like feeling in that way, but all they could feel towards her in that moment was sympathy.

Deep down, there was also guilt. An immense amount of it.

Had they been a little less hard on each other, she would have not had the need to leave.

When the Winchester boys looked at their sister, they saw that her defenses were up, which was not an unusual sight, for she had the tendency of getting defensive when people poked at her feelings.

"I hunt alone. Team work doesn't do me any good. Most hunters out there don't know half the things that we do." She paused, then allowed herself to say a more modest statement, "Dad made some mistakes, but he did a good job training us."

That was something no one could deny. John Winchester had trained them particularly well. It had kept them alive through countless monsters, through countless unpleasant encounters with other hunters.

Dean seemed to accept her answer, briefly looking down at his plate as he momentarily wondered if there had been pie on the menu.

Meanwhile, Sam nodded in agreement to Lily's words, looking thoughtful.

"Sometimes I crash at Bobby's for a while," Lily added as an afterthought, knowing that her brothers would feel more at ease after knowing that. "We hunt together, when Rufus ain't available."

"Who?" Sam and Dean inquired together, to then give each other looks of surprise.

Lily grimaced. "God, you two have to stop talking at the same time or I'm going to barf." She ignored their eye-roll, and continued: "Rufus is a fellow hunter. Bobby's sort of friend."

Dean raised his eyebrows at her choice of words, then shrugged, for he knew very well how their fellow hunter and father figure treated others.

"An acquaintance, you mean," Sam tried to correct her.

She shook her head. "He's more than that, though you two wouldn't understand." And when their looks got too curious and pushing, she ended up saying a gentle, "He's the hunter that helped Bobby when his wife was possessed."

Understanding flashed through their faces.

Like their father, Bobby Singer had chosen to hunt after his wife died tragically at the hands of a demon.

"Right."

"And you hunt with them? You're, what, like a team?" Dean scowled, his words full of snark. Part of him would always feel bitter that she had left them to hunt on her own. He understood her reasons, but he wasn't completely okay with the whole thing, not like he claimed he was. They used to be a team, the three of them- four if they counted John- and then she had ditched them and chosen other people?

"Yes," Lily returned sarcastically, "Do you want to join? You have to be really freaking grumpy to enter."

Dean gave her a bitch-face that could've rivaled Sam's.

Sam snorted. "Yeah, I can see you being part of that club."

The young woman flashed him a smile. "Sometimes I need my doze of grumpiness." She started to smile, thinking of all the times the old hunter had yelled at her over the smallest of things. "And Bobby needs actual care that doesn't involve fast-food and cheap beers."

At once, her brothers widened their eyes, a look of panic surging through their eyes. At first, she thought it was because of her mention of alcohol, but she was proved wrong when her brothers inquired about the other thing she had mentioned.

"You don't know how to cook," Dean reminded her, raising his eyebrows in bewilderment.

At the same time, Sam had asked: "Since when do you cook?"

And then both brothers shared a look.

The last- and also the first- time Lily had tried to cook- (she had had no choice, their father had left them without any means of actually getting food, and Dean couldn't afford to get caught stealing again)-, what she made had been as hard as a rock and had tasted so horrible that none of them could dare to take a second bite.

The most that she could do was a delicious bowl of cereal and milk for breakfast, and, now that they came to think about it, glasses of water. The rest was, quite literally, impossible for her to cook or prepare, unless her main goal was to get frustrated and to die of intoxication.

They were startled, wondering if in the time they'd been apart she'd finally learned to cook. It seemed like a far-stretched thought, but considering the amount of time that had passed, they couldn't be sure.

Their sister fought against a smirk, looking down briefly before looking up at them again. She knew what they were thinking about; it was impossible to miss the frightened and dreadful look that crossed their eyes. Instead of being offended, she could only feel amused.

"I don't," She said, shrugging unabashedly, her blonde curls bouncing along with her movements, which made her move a hand to push a bothersome strand of loose hair behind her ear. "Bobby does. I force him to when I'm at his place."

"Oh, thank God," Dean breathed in relief, leaning back on his chair, relief flashing through his young face.

Sam continued, not missing a beat, "We were worried you'd been poisoning Bobby all this time."

At their amused looks and their stupid little smirks, the young green-eyed woman found herself unable to do anything else but stare at them, taking in how beautiful her brothers were: Dean, with his familiar apple-green eyes, with his contagious grin, with his broad shoulders covered in one of their father's old jackets. Sam, with his sweet- yet dorky- smile, his long hair, his bright eyes.

Things weren't perfect, that much Lily was perfectly aware of.

Things could _never_ be perfect between them, not after the things they had done to each other through the years.

However, as long as her brothers were safe, as long as they kept holding into that brilliant light that they possessed, Lily was completely positive that things _could_ get better between one another.

Lily knew that Dean would do anything to ensure that Sam was safe, even if it meant damaging the whole world.

In that same way, she knew that Sammy would never let anything remotely bad happen to Dean.

She didn't know what would happen next- she didn't know what would happen once the job was done and they'd go their respective ways. She just knew that they would be fine- that _she_ would be fine. Hell, things between them _could_ get better, they could fix what had been damaged about their relationship.

They were family, after all.

And the Winchesters' only weakness- and their greatest strength- was their unconditional, almost obsessive, love and devotion to those that they considered family.

"There's only one thing I'll never forgive you for," Dean suddenly spoke, gaining Sam's and Lily's attention instantly with his words.

She swallowed thickly, looking anxious for the words he would speak, her mind speeding up and trying to remember beforehand what she had done to hurt him.

Sam narrowed his eyes. Through the years, they occasionally talked about Lily- and he knew perfectly well what his older brother thought of her actions- but he had never heard Dean say such a thing; there was never the whole " _I'll never forgive you_ ," thing.

"Dean," Sam said warningly.

"No," Lily snapped, her emotions getting the best of her. She was frightened, there was no hiding that, but she wanted her brothers to be sincere with her. She gave Sam a soft look, "Let him talk. He has all the right in the world to hold something against me and I respect it."

There was a long pause between them, where Sam kept staring at Dean, who mustered the most pained look he could come up with, and directed it at his sister.

Seeing all that pain on his face was too much for Lily, and she looked away, a lump on her throat. "Dean?"

Dean then licked his lips and decided to be sincere: "You ate the last slice of pie before leaving."

A breathless chuckle left Lily's throat, her heart hammering wildly against her chest.

Her relief was so big that she didn't know what to do for a long moment, so she simply placed her hands over her face.

Sam breathed deeply and rested his neck against the chair, groaning as he waved a hand through his face. "Seriously, dude?" He had been so concerned about Dean hurting their sister that he had missed the playful look on his face.

"C'mon, man!" Dean gave Sam a hard look. "It's _pie_."

Lily moved her hands from her face and looked at her older brother. "I'm sorry." She placed her hands over his own, then moved her eyes towards the menu, where she caught a glimpse of the deserts section. "Perhaps I could make it up to you?"

Dean opened his mouth, a retort already at the back of his tongue, when Lily smirked and moved the menu towards him, so he could read the sign that clearly said: _Best Pie in all of Springfield._

Just like that, a grin crossed his features. "You're forgiven, little sister."

"Drop the _little_ ," Lily corrected him sweetly. "Or no pie."

"You got it, sister."

Sam watched their interaction with an amused smile on his face.

And when the pie arrived, and they had a small contest to see who could eat more slices first, Sam felt at home.

...

When it was time for them to leave, they planned to meet at Crawford Hall after both parts had done their proper investigations.

Lily had to go to her motel room to change into her nun-clothes, and the boys had to speak with the manager of the professor's office to let a janitor open the room for them- which meant they needed to falsify a paper beforehand that would allow them to pass as electricians, which would take some time, considering how much they were bickering each other instead of actually doing anything.

When the young green-eyed woman entered her motel room, a loud sigh left her mouth. She rested her back against the door, just like she had the night before on her apartment, and took a few seconds to breathe deeply before moving towards the duffel bags where she kept her clothes. Her stomach still ached when she moved, but the painkillers she'd stolen from the local pharmacy were helping a little.

Then a smile amused smile cornered her lips. What she loved most of hunting was dressing up and pretending to be other people. It was usually the _fun_ part.

She looked at the black nun-costume that she'd stolen from a convent years before, and grinned. _It's showtime_.

...

Twenty minutes later, Lily found herself in front of Crawford Hall, standing right where the professor had fallen and bashed his head at.

In several parts of the pavement, there could still be seen a crimson blotch- it was hard to take dried blood off the floor, that much the young hunter knew almost perfectly well.

She wondered if Caleb had been one of the janitors to try and clean the pavement, but disregarded that thought as soon as it crossed her mind. The lesser she thought about him, the better.

As a method of distracting herself from her thoughts, she took in her surroundings.

Around her, people muttered quiet sounds of agreement as the victim's family- a middle aged woman and a small boy- said a few words about how good he had been while alive.

The establishment had prepared a small memorial table by the steps. It had been filled with flowers and lighted candles, all which were surrounding the rectangular photography of the late professor.

Lily twisted a few beards from her rosary as she listened to the stories that were said about the professor.

She had hoped to hear something that might be remotely related to the unnatural world, but all that was discussed about Arthur Cox was his fame and his good manners- there was nothing remotely ill mentioned about him.

It annoyed her.

Someone that had the fame that that man had must've been arrogant, or even conceited. Hardly no one that reached that level of fame and prestige that he had achieved remained humble.

They were trying to paint him as a saint, but there was something about the whole man- about the way he was smiling in he photograph- that didn't seem remotely pure.

 _Predator's smile,_ Lily recognized after a small pause of consideration in which she stared at the photograph. It was the same familiar look that many men- older men that pursued younger girls- often bore: the same arrogant smirk, as though he had known he was handsome, and the same leer barely disguised on the eyes.

The only problem about her speculation was that no one seemed to say anything remotely related to it. They only mentioned the _good_ things.

It was relentless.

Then, at last: "Sister Grace," Mrs. Cox's voice broke ever so slightly. "Please, could you lead us through a prayer? For his soul?"

Lily nodded, and held her hands out, an open invitation for others to join. It wasn't a necessity, but she liked it when people held hands during a collective prayer. While the others joined hands, she played with the beads on the rosary around her neck, adrenaline coursing through her body at the fear of making a mistake and having them realize that she was not an actual nun.

But praying was actually simple.

It was the one thing that she knew how to do almost perfectly- thanks to the time she studied at a private Catholic School back when John _allowed_ them to go to school. It hadn't been a charity act, though, for the school had been haunted and her father only sent her there to protect the other students.

"Please," Mrs. Cox begged the others. "Let her speak."

Lily waited quietly for silence to reign, and once it did, she raised her voice and directed soft prayers for the professor's soul, prayers that she doubted would mean anything for those around her- only the professor's wife seemed thrilled by her presence there. The professor's colleagues and students seemed to be looking forwards for the religious part of the memorial to end.

Or perhaps they wanted the memorial to finally end- it had been quite a long and tedious reception.

Lily didn't disappoint them. She was short on her words, keeping everything light and not daring to venture further than the standard prayers for the recently dead.

Once her part was over, the professor's child said a few words- that was the most heartbreaking scene, a young boy of barely six or seven years old, proclaiming his love for his father and expressing how much he would miss him.

Then it went back to Lily for the closing statement.

"The Lord is ever forgiving," Lily said her last words, wanting nothing more than for it to end. "I'm sure that our beloved professor Arthur Cox is with Him right now."

And with that, the lazy protocol for the memorial ended. The first to leave were the other professors, then, one by one, the students started to walk away.

Lily nodded at them as they passed her by, then glanced back at the small table they had dedicated to the professor- only his wife and his son remained behind, lighting more candles for him and trying to rearrange some flowers that had fallen from their vases.

Lily saw her opportunity there, and approached the widow at once, saying a gentle: "Mrs. Cox, may I speak with you for a moment?"

She didn't expect the young boy to stare at her, but his eyes followed her very movement. Feeling uncomfortable, she shared a look with the widow, and the middle aged woman nodded a little before crouching down and whispering something on her son's ear. At last, she kissed his forehead and left him by the memorial table, then followed Lily a couple of feet away from him.

"Thank you for coming, Sister," Mrs. Cox gave her a grateful look. "I cannot say how grateful I am. I was devastated when the church told me they wouldn't send anyone."

 _Fuck_. Lily's heart jumped, but then she forced a smile at the other woman.

"Like I said, Mrs. Cox, I believe that the Lord is ever forgiving, and everyone deserves to have proper prayers directed to their parting soul, no matter how they died."

Mrs. Cox nodded in agreement, looking relieved by those words. She couldn't stop hearing what the church had told her when she called them, that they would never send anyone to pray for his soul since he had committed a treacherous sin that could never be forgiven by God. It had been devastating for her, as a religious person, to hear that her beloved husband wouldn't find peace on the afterlife.

Lily watched carefully the other woman's movements, noticing how she seemed to be lost in thoughts, her eyes filled with tears she refused to let drop.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," She said slowly. She hesitated before continuing, knowing that he next words could make the other woman feel worse. "Forgive me for asking, Mrs. Cox, but I need to know. Was your husband acting strange before his death?"

Mrs. Cox shook her head almost violently. "No, no. He was fine. He was-" A sob got caught on her throat, and she looked away. "I just can't believe he would do something like that."

"Was he depressed? Did he have any enemies, anyone that would want him dead?" That had been extremely blunt, but the young woman was growing tired of beating around the bush. The widow was already crying, a couple more questions wouldn't harm her much.

"Arthur was a psychology professor, Sister." Mrs. Cox shook her head, as though that explained everything. "He had everything he could ever wish for: fame, family, money, the love of his students."

"Sometimes those things aren't enough," Lily muttered, more to herself than to the other woman. "I'm sorry- was there any unusual smell around him- or around the house? Like sulfur, rotten eggs, that kind of stuff?"

It was clear that her questions confused the other woman, but Lily tried to remind herself that the other woman's opinion of her wasn't important.

Mrs. Cox shook her head. "I don't understand." Desperately, she glanced back at her son, who hadn't moved one inch since they last looked back at him, and then she glanced back at the nun in front of her. "Arthur was happy the morning that it happened, and I just don't understand what made him do it."

Lily decided that her job there was done.

There was nothing about the whole situation that sounded like a case. No matter what the older woman would say about her husband being healthy, sometimes depression was like that- invisible to the eye of others. It could've been an actual suicide, for all Lily knew.

If Sam and Dean didn't find any traces of paranormal activity on his office, they would officially be done there.

Though, just in case, she was going to stick around for a few more days, to make sure that there was actually no monster lurking around Campus. She knew her brothers, and knew that they would do the same.

"I understand your pain, Mrs. Cox. If you ever need anything, or if you remember something from the day it happened-" She pulled a small card out of one of her pockets, and handed it to her. "No matter how strange it sounds, don't hesitate to call."

"Thank you, Sister Grace." Mrs. Cox looked at the verge of tears again, clutching tightly the card with her number. "Can I ask one last favor from you?"

Curious, the blonde woman tilted her head to the side and carefully awaited for her to continue. "Of course."

"The office- Arthur's office," She licked her lips nervously. "I asked the church to send someone to pray there, in case his soul was trapped somewhere there from where he threw himself out of one of those windows, but they declined and I was wondering if you could-?" She let the question hang open, eyes wide with hope.

In definitive, Lily realized that Mrs. Cox had wild assumptions about the human soul and the places it could get trapped.

She had never heard of a spirit getting tied to the place they died- not when it was a suicide. Suicide created vengeful spirits (actually almost everything created vengeful spirits) and those only tied themselves to objects and people, not exactly to places. She didn't think that his soul- or his spirit- could be trapped in a tedious place like an office, but it was her one chance to check the office herself.

She trusted her brothers, but perhaps having another pair of eyes look at the scene would help.

She could see something that her brothers could've missed- they were pretty distracted bickering one another, after all.

Maybe she could find something to prove if her theory about his arrogance was correct.

"I will," She assured the older woman, forcing another smile at her. "I'll do it, Mrs. Cox."

"Thank you, thank you so much." Relief flooded through her whole self, and with one last grateful look, the widow moved towards her son, standing behind him as they watched together the picture of their lost beloved.

Lily watched them for a second, hesitated for a second, then moved towards the staircase.

Mrs. Cox was discretely watching her very move, trying to see if she would fulfill her promise.

At first, she thought it a good idea, for she could have a glimpse of the office, but then she started to doubt the idea of going up there.

For all she knew, her brothers could still be there. Knowing them, they'd burst out laughing upon seeing her in costume, which would be hard to explain to the janitor keeping an eye on them as they "fixed" the walls, for: _how strange it would seem to see a couple of electricians laughing at a nun?_

For all she knew, there could be nothing worth investigating there. If Sam and Dean didn't find any trace of paranormal activity there, going there would've been a complete waste of time...

A million things screamed at her not to go there, but the piercing stare of Mrs. Cox on her back forced her to move.

Annoyance surged through her body, and she pushed herself to climb up the stairs.

She was just crossing the hallway, looking at the numbers written on each door, trying to find the one that belonged to the dead professor, when she came face to face with Sam, Dean and a janitor. The four of them froze, her brothers sharing a look with one another before looking back at her.

"Gentlemen," She said before her brothers could laugh, forcing a kind smile into her face. "Hello."

The janitor returned the smile, peculiarly tilting his head to the side in contemplation as he observed her. She directed him a polite nod, then looked back at her brothers when she heard Dean choke down a snort. Though she was not looking at the janitor, she could still feel his gaze on her. It was particularly heavy, making it almost impossible to ignore.

"Hey." Dean turned red form the struggle not to laugh. Sam nudged him discretely, though the tall man did a poor job at hiding his amused grin. "What-" A breathless chuckle left his mouth, followed by his younger brother nudging his side again, "What are you doing here?"

Sam cleared his throat, giving Dean a pointed look. "What he means is, Sister, is there something we can help you with?" He ended with a forced smile that didn't really hide the fact that they knew each other beforehand.

Lily directed her view back to the janitor. "Actually," She took in his appearance as discretely as she could. He was handsome, albeit a little shorter than her brothers- still, he was taller than she was by a large amount. "I was asked to direct some prayers for the professor on his office, but I don't know where it is."

The janitor raised an eyebrow at her. "A nun accepting to pray for someone that committed suicide. Huh. How peculiar."

There was nothing accusing about his words- it sounded like an unimportant observation- yet Lily felt a small panic attack surge through her body.

From the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of Sam and Dean starting to open their mouths, ready to intervene and steer the conversation away.

"Everyone deserves a chance to make peace with our Lord," The words came out of her mouth without much thought, interrupting whatever her brothers had planned to say. "No matter how they died, or who they were when alive."

The janitor stared at Lily. There was something she could not decipher about the things that crossed his eyes in that moment,- it seemed like he was, in some way, weighing her down-, but after a small pause of consideration, he shrugged. As though it that had been enough answer for him, he turned sideways, making a movement with his hand that signaled her to follow him.

"All right, _Sister_. Let's get you to the office."

The blonde hunter shared a look with her brothers before following the janitor, her hands twisting the rosary beads once more. "Thank you."

They walked for a little while, crossing several hallways before reaching their destination.

The janitor stopped in front of a closed door, looking for his keys to open it up.

Lily was tempted to tell him to forget it, but something made her change her mind.

When he opened it and stepped inside, she hesitated before entering the room.

The first thing she did as she moved into the room was discretely smell- but there were no traces of sulfur on the air.

Then she looked around the room, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

She moved, forgetting for a moment that she wasn't alone, and found herself in front of the recently-repaired window from which he had thrown himself. Just as she was raising a hand to touch the glass, a voice behind her startled her.

"Careful. Glass is pretty fragile right now."

Lily turned back to look at the janitor, remembering that he was there. He seemed unaffected by her presence or the fact that the owner of said office had recently thrown himself off that same window. He was leaning back against one of the columns on the walls, watching her.

"How long have you been working here?" The question slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

A small, private smile appeared on his face. "I've been mopping this floor for six years."

Lily observed him. "And during those years that you knew the professor, did he ever seem like the type of person to do something like this?"

The janitor shook his head, scoffing to himself, "The poor bastard was too self- invested to ever attempt against his own life."

The hunter looked away, settling her gaze over the window once more. "Huh."

That was twice a person said that the professor would have no reasons to kill himself.

The janitor spoke again: "Well, it appears I was wrong about my opinion of him. He threw himself out of _that_ window-" He pointed at the window she was gazing at, and continued, moving to stand by her side. "I guess it's true what they say- we don't really know those around us."

She nodded carefully, still deep in thoughts.

It _had_ to be a haunting, then.

Or perhaps a witch had hexed him- she'd have to look around the office or his house to look for a hex-bag.

But it was most definitely not a suicide, it _couldn't_ be.

A new thought came to her, and she thought it reasonable to ask the janitor about it, since he worked there. Lily found herself looking to the side, searching for him, only to discover that he was already looking at her.

Lily smiled a little, a smile that he easily returned.

She'd been so immerse on her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed his close proximity. Their eyes met somewhere along their shared smile, and her heart stopped for one fraction of a second. They were _mesmerizing_ ; an alluring golden that resembled a ray of sunshine going through a glass of whiskey.

Feeling breathless for some reason, Lily found herself looking away abruptly, clearing her throat as a weak attempt at clearing her own thoughts, however unrelated both actions were.

"So," The janitor clapped his hands together. "How long have _you_ been a religious woman?"

When people started asking questions that was her signal to leave.

"I joined the convent at fifteen-" Lily made a cross with her thumb and her pointer finger, carefully guiding it towards her forehead, then her heart, then her sides- crossing herself. "I'll make a quick prayer and then we can leave."

"Mm," The janitor muttered as she feigned to pray for the processor's soul. "No offense, but I don't know what good it will make the professor. He was already doomed."

Lily opened her eyes and turned to glance at him. "Pardon?"

"I don't mean to cast aspersions on a dead guy, but, uh..." He sounded just like he _wanted_ to cast aspersions on a dead guy. A smirk pulled at his lips when he saw that he had caught her attention, and continued in a cheerful voice, as though he were talking of the weather: "He was already sinning before he decided to kill himself."

She tilted her head to the side, making a movement with her hand. "I told you, I believe that everyone deserves a chance at purification."

The janitor bore a thoughtful look. "Even when their sins involved pedophilia?"

Lily tried to process that question. If what the janitor was implying was true, that would mean that her previous assumption about the professor had been correct- it would mean that the predator look that she saw on his eyes in that photo was _real_.

She decided not to beat around the bush anymore. "What do you mean?" She needed to be completely sure.

He had been constantly smiling and looking charismatically joyful, but when he answered her, there was only seriousness on his voice and face.

"Not everyone on this campus is officially an adult, there are several students- freshmen, mind you- that are still underage. The professor never cared much about age when he brought girls up here."

It took her a moment to process those words and what it meant.

"Oh, God." Disgust overcame her senses, and in dismay she closed her eyes briefly.

The janitor grinned, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Mr. Morality here got more ass than a toilet seat."

Some other time, that statement would've made her laugh.

That time, however, she had been a witness on how a wife had been mounting her husband's unexpected death; she had seen a _son_ grieving his father.

She felt sick to her stomach. "He was married."

 _How many girls had he seduced?_

 _How many girls- innocent, young girls- had he forced into things they didn't really want to do?_

The janitor shrugged deeply. "Mr. Morality here wasn't exactly Mr. Morality." He seemed to be considering something, "You know, the night he died, he wasn't alone."

Her head snapped up to meet his gaze. "There was a woman here the night he killed himself?"

No one had mentioned the presence of someone else there.

That was a _new_ piece of information.

"I told the cops about the young woman, but, uh, I guess they never found her."

A woman that hadn't been found. Lily was almost _completely_ sure it was a haunting- the vengeful spirit of a girl wanting revenge on the disgusting professor. There was only one problem, and it was that the story that she'd heard about a girl committing suicide on campus involved a room that didn't exist. (Room 669) She had to investigate the whole story of the university to see if there had been any woman to die there.

Her thoughts went back to the janitor's words, and she raised his eyebrows at him.

"You're the one that found the professor."

She tried to hide the relief from her voice. Part of her had been scared of the witness being Caleb, but now that she knew it was not, a gigantic weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

The janitor shrugged. "Like I said, I told the cops about her, but it seems like they didn't want the wife to know about his infidelity." He found himself smirking in amusement, "Or perhaps they were ashamed to have lost her on the building and decided not to mention her at all."

Lily could see the police doing that.

The janitor locked eyes with her. "Do you still think some part of his soul was worth redeeming?"

Lily didn't feel worthy of answering that, not when she was literally sinning at all times, specially in that moment, pretending to be a woman of God and making prayers that didn't actually mean anything.

But the words came out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

" _No_ -" She breathed deeply to control the anger that came with picturing the young girls that had fallen for the charm and seduction of an old, disgusting man. "Pedophiles don't deserve anything; they don't deserve any kind prayer."

The janitor tilted his head to the side. "You could almost say he got exactly what he deserved."

Lily was about to nod when she remembered who she was supposed to be, and a blush cornered her cheeks. She had made an awful portrayal of a nun that night, gossiping and being blunt about her disgust.

"I'm starting to think that the church had a good reason for not wanting to send anyone here to pray for him," That's all Lily dared to admit. She realized her job there was done, she'd gotten enough information already, and turned away from the window, looking at the door. "I should go, it's too late for me to be out here."

The janitor walked her to the door, then stayed behind to close it.

"Be careful out there, Sister." He told her as she walked away, "It's getting pretty late."

She looked back at him and smiled. He had been looking at her as he locked the door. "You too. Thanks again, for everything."

...

Her brothers were waiting for her on the parking lot. She entered the Impala without hesitation this time, and instantly they turned to look at her.

"What took you so long?" Dean demanded, then added: "No traces of EMF on the room, by the way." And almost immediately, he turned the engine on and drove away.

Lily shot him a look. "I got info. Apparently, our dear professor was a-"

"A dick," Dean interrupted her, speeding up. "We know."

"So it's most definitely a haunting," Lily continued, scowling. There had been no EMF activity on the room, but that didn't explain the woman that the janitor had mentioned, nor the rumors of a girl killing herself on campus years before. "I mean, between the woman the janitor mentioned and the stories around campus-"

This time it was Sam who interrupted her. "Get this, though, the whole room 669 thing is a load of crap."

"I told you guys that," Lily pointed out patiently. " _I told you_."

She was promptly ignored, as usual. She rolled her eyes and sat back on the backseat of the Impala, -which annoyed her because it made her feel like a child, she preferred being shotgun- waving a hand though her head, taking the veil off her hair and then unbuttoning several buttons of her gown.

"So, we gotta check the building's history out to see if any co-ed ganked herself there." Dean finished.

A frown cornered Lily's face. "I left my laptop on my motel room-"

"I have mine, no worries." Sam smiled at her thoughtfulness, then a thought crossed to him, and he turned back to look at her again, concern barely hidden on his eyes. "You _are_ coming with us to our room, right?"

Dean's eyes sought her own through the rear-view mirror, needing to know her answer.

The question brought a smile to her face, and giving them a kind look, the young blonde woman nodded.


	2. From ghosts to aliens

_**Disclaimer:**_ _Supernatural does not belong to me. Only the plot, and some characters, like Lily, are mine._

 _Summary:_ From the moment God created the Earth, it was known that Sam and Dean Winchester were similar enough to Michael and Lucifer to be their vessels. Their sister, Lily, was not a vessel, but she shared a profound bond with one archangel. She loved her family, and would do anything for them. But she wasn't strong to endure the way they fought with one another, so she ran away, just like an archangel had, a long time before. Slightly AU.

 _English is not my native language, for which I apologize in advantage for any mistake I might have._

* * *

...

Chapter 2

...

It was greatly evident that Sam and Dean couldn't stand to be close to the other for much longer.

Lily knew that feeling, having traveled with them- and with their father, back when he was alive and joined them on hunts- for nearly her whole life, and being familiar with how exasperated one could get after being stuck with a person for weeks to no end.

In their case, however, it had been months with no end.

Or maybe even a year? She wasn't sure how long they had been traveling together.

The only thing she was sure of was that she was going to end up insane if they kept having pointless, stupid discussions for every single little thing the other did.

Their latest discussion had been because Dean had used Sam's computer without his permission, which had ended with the computer acquiring a virus from one of the porn sites the older man visited.

And while Like could understand Sam's exasperation, she was starting to grow irritated by their never-ending discussions.

It didn't help at all that Dean wouldn't make things easier, he _loved_ annoying his little brother further.

Lily was exhausted.

Not of them, _never_ of them, but a small part of her wished that they could be together without them having the need to fight one another all the time.

She had been just about to tell one of them- she didn't care which- to simply move and crash with her on her motel room for the remaining time together, when she realized that it would only make them discuss about _who_ would stay with her.

There was _always_ a fight with them, no matter what the topic was, there always was a discussion.

She could see Sam wanting to move into her motel room for the sake of being away from Dean, but she could also see Dean wanting to be with her after years of not being roommates.

They would _definitely_ end up having a discussion about Lily and who would be her roommate.

Things like that she couldn't deal with- she had run away from things like that in the first place.

She had been drowning herself on her books, (seeking a way to ignore their fights more than seeking a way of discovering what was going around campus, if she was honest about it), desperately seeking anything remotely alike to the way their current case was going, but there was nothing.

Crawford Hall's history was completely clean: meaning, there had not been any incidents like that before, neither had anyone ever died on the university.

Sam and Dean were happy to move on and accept that it meant that the professor had actually killed himself and that there was no case for them to work at.

Their sister, in difference of them, was reluctant to let the situation be tagged down as something normal.

She didn't dare voice her thoughts to them, however, not when she had no proof to validate her thoughts. Sam and Dean could understand many things, but they also needed, from time to time, evidence to validate the things they couldn't understand.

She couldn't understand what was happening, either, but she was more liberal with her thoughts; she could understand things even if she didn't have any proof of the situation at hand. She had faith, something that her brothers lacked from time to time. There _was_ something going around campus, she was almost completely sure of it, there was _something_ inside of her telling her that it was true.

But as time went by, and she realized that there was no way to prove that the professor's death had been caused by supernatural occurrence, part of her wondered if she wanted to see things that weren't there just for the sake of being with her brothers for a longer while.

She felt pathetic and stupid.

She'd been about to tell her brothers to forget it and move on, as they always did when realizing there was no case at hand, when she received a text message that read: ( **Aliens?),** followed by an attached photograph that she refused to open, for she recognized the number that had sent her the message, and she didn't know what to make of the whole situation.

Her fingers faltered over the keyboard, but at last she came out with a perfect reply: ( **I'm not Scully, genius**.) but desisted against sending it.

Firstly, she wanted to keep things cordial between her ex-fiancé and herself. It would be childish of her to answer in that way, specially when he texted her after years of having lost complete contact with her.

Secondly, he would never understand what she was talking about, for he had never been interested in the same tv-show series that she'd loved.

But most of all, he had texted her after years of not doing so. They had parted on good ways, but it had hurt them too much to keep in contact, which had eventually made them disconnect as much as possible for one another.

Lily stared at the message for a long time.

He had texted her.

Granted, the young hunter had never formed a coherent thought on aliens. She believed in the possibility of there being extraterrestrial beings,- for how arrogant could it be for the human race to think they were alone in a vast and unexplored universe?- but she had never seen one, nor had she heard of an actual alien sighting that was not faked.

So she refused to believe that, if they existed, they would bother with Earth and all the shitty things going on there.

She was about to delete the message when she realized something: Caleb hardly believed in the monsters she fought (monsters that he had seen with his own two eyes, he never really believed in them, he just pushed them away from his mind and concentrated on more normal things), he certainly would _never_ believe in aliens.

He could, she hoped, distinguish a fake photograph from the real supernatural stuff that plagued the world.

Why would he send her something like that?

At last, her curiosity overcame her bewilderment, and she found herself clicking on the attached photograph.

The reason for Caleb's sudden message became strikingly obvious then. His job was compromised, or so he thought.

The photo was from the open field by the entrance of Crawford Hall, close to where the professor had fallen to his death. The grass had been cut in circular patterns, leaving a design that she had seen before, on the multiple conspiracy theories blogs around the internet, though none of them had ever been made so close to where Lily was.

That photo was different, though, because it looked _real_.

As she inspected the photo more closely, she could make out several different patterns within the bigger ones; a chain that could only be made by an actual engine.

She leaned back on the bed's headboard and sighed deeply.

It took her a moment to process that Caleb was honestly worried about a photograph about "aliens", though then she had to take another moment to process the fact that the photo looked too real to be fake, and that, judging by the lack of brand-marks on it, it had been taken by Caleb himself.

But she _was_ in campus- something that _he_ didn't know- and she had been there, just the day before, and there had been _nothing_ on the place where the picture showed.

So whatever had made those marks- she refused to believe that it had been made by actual aliens- had done it that same day, which meant that it was _close_.

Lily weighed her chances, fingers trailing over the keyboard again, until she had written something else ( **Aliens aren't real, Caleb**.) though she hesitated before sending the message.

She didn't want to sound rude, but there was no other way to answer to that text.

At last, she made her mind, deciding to delete the message and simply never answer him.

But then the door to her motel room swung open unexpectedly, which sent her into a small panic, for she had been immerse on her own thoughts and on the message, and her fingers accidentally hit send to the message, instead of deleting it.

"Hey, we're here-" Dean announced unnecessarily, she could see them very clearly, entering her room without bothering to announce themselves beforehand. They were carrying bags that, judging by the smell, contained their dinner. "Crap." He noticed the agitated look on her face, and grimaced awkwardly, "Sorry, should've knocked. Do you need ten more minutes?"

She scowled at him, not understanding what he meant. Slowly, her scowl died and she found herself tilting her head to the side, too confused to do something else.

"What are you talking about?"

She looked at Sam in confusion, but her younger brother blushed and looked away, clearing his throat uncomfortably.

It clicked right away; she realized how she must've looked, under the comforters and clutching her cellphone so tight that her fingers went white, her face red, her breathing a little labored.

She found herself groaning and rolling her eyes. "Guys, I'm not masturbating. Just enter the damn room."

Sam froze even more upon hearing those words. "God, I wish I hadn't just pictured that."

"Then what are you doing?" Dean inquired, moving towards the small round table and starting to unpack the food they brought. "You look like your cellphone just gave you an orgasm-"

"Or like you want to poop." Sam contributed.

Lily shook her head at them, though her shoulders were a little less tense, her breathing getting more normal with each passing moment.

Their presence, albeit unexpected and loud, eased her nerves.

Even when they drove her crazy with their antics, they also comforted her with their mere presence.

Sam and Dean could see that there was something bothering Lily, but they weren't sure she was comfortable with sharing her thoughts.

After all, they couldn't very well demand her to confide in them after being separated form years. It wouldn't be fair of them.

So they decided to talk about the case instead.

"There's a new outtake on the case," Dean informed her, moving one hand to beckon her closer.

She obliged, moving to unwrap the food her brothers had gotten her, needing to do something with her hands to stop the tremble on them. Before her brothers could comment about her obvious anxiety, she stuffed her mouth with food, making it that way so she wouldn't be able to answer any of their questions.

"You won't believe what just happened," Sam cleared his throat, continuing saying what his older brother had started. "So get this, this frat boy claims he was abducted."

Lily forced herself to swallow, to be able to ask: "And? He ought to go to the real police, there's nothing we can do for him."

The boys shared a look, then Dean raised an eyebrow at her and said: "Apparently, E.T just kidnapped the frat boy," And at her bewildered look, he continued: "Look, we know how insane it sounds, but we figured we ought to check it out."

Sam explained their thoughts a little better, thinking that they needed to convince her to accompany them. "The timing between the professor's death and this guy's abduction is too far close to be a coincidence."

It didn't have to be exactly aliens, it could be another supernatural creature causing chaos all around campus.

Maybe that kid had been abducted by something, but not knowing what it was, he had quickly jumped into the conclusion that it was an alien.

Feeling more at ease now, the green-eyed young woman found herself shrugging while making a gesture with her mouth that only aggravated her whole shrug. She swallowed another mouthful of food, and sighed as she leaned back against the table, crossing her arms over her chest as she glanced back at her cellphone, which was still upon the bed.

While she thought about how strange the whole thing was- including the fact that her ex had texted her about _aliens_ , and out of nowhere a guy had been abducted in campus- her brothers stared at her, to then share a small look.

Sam and Dean knew that unknown topics had a way of agitating her to no end. She never liked finding new creatures (and while they _knew_ aliens weren't real, it could be cataloged as something new for them)- she hated not knowing how to deal with a dangerous thing; it made her feel like an amateur.

It made her feel useless, which was how John had made her feel for most of her life; needless to say, she loathed that feeling.

"Fine. We should talk to the guy," She said at last, not noticing the way her brothers had been staring at her. "We should hear what he has to say about the whole abduction thing."

Dean clapped his hands together, "Great! Let's hit the bar."

At his suggestion, both Sam and Lily turned his way, question clearly written in their whole expressions.

At last, Lily was the one to acknowledge their confusion, raising her eyebrows in bewilderment as she said: "I said let's talk to the abducted guy, not let's get wasted."

The blond man had been thinking about those purple shots he'd tried on his first night on campus, but disguised it with an affronted look.

"What? They're college boys! They ought to be there." Dean hesitated, tilting his head to the side, looking doubtful. "Right?"

Lily knew her older brother enough to be aware that when he suggested they checked out a bar, what he mostly planned to do was drink.

However, he could have a point there, though she wouldn't know better.

She was completely lost when it came to college students and their antics.

Since she never applied for college, she had no idea how they lived or what they did on their weekends. All she knew about college was what her ex had told her about his workplace, and the things she had seen in porn, which wasn't really a reliable source.

"Don't look at me," She raised her eyebrows when Dean stared at her. "I wouldn't know."

Dean had one-night stands with some women that were in college, but it seemed that he never really cared much about them and the things they did after their sex sessions ended.

Lily never bothered with college boys for one-night stands, she went straight for the older, more successful men.

Sam was the only one that could answer that rhetorical question. Out of them, he was the only one that ever wanted to achieve something other than hunting. He was the only one to have finished high school and applied for college.

Lily and Dean turned towards him at the same time, echoing together a: "Sammy?"

Sam pursed his lips, but ended up nodding, though another heavy sigh left his mouth. "Yeah," He said at last, watching them and knowing that both would be happy with his answer since both loved to get drunk. "It's Friday. Most will definitely be at a bar."

Dean tried to hide a smirk at that, still thinking about those shots he had tried and that had been quite delicious and addicting.

Something crossed his mind, and he turned towards his sister, who gave him another curious look, recognizing the look on his face.

"What?" She questioned, amusement on her voice.

"Just so you know," Dean cleared his throat, fighting against a smile, "We do not believe in aliens."

Lily found herself unable not to direct him a fond look. "I know you don't, love."

Back when they were little- Dean being around eight years old, Lily being six and little Sam being four- they had encountered a hunter that was obsessed with extraterrestrial beings after his little brother had been kidnapped by a strange purple creature.

John had been reluctant to help him hunt down the creature, but had accepted after a lot of pressure was put on him from the other hunter. Dean and Lily liked that hunter, though, for he had amazing stories (fake ones, now that she came to think about it) about the universe and about extraterrestrial beings; and he had an amazing collection of junk that had been dozed with "extraterrestrial power".

Obviously, at the end it turned out that his little brother had been kidnapped by a lustful god, and not by an alien- and the junk he had found and believed to be extraterrestrial artifacts was actually godly weaponry from Olympus.

Little four-years-old Sam had been heartbroken to know that the purple creatures that the hunter had so graphically described weren't really extraterrestrial beings, but John had been triumphant after realizing he had been right about the whole matter. Lily and Dean never really felt sad towards the whole thing, for they had seen their first god and it had been as horrible and bloody as they imagined, (actually, it had been way too bloody for their young minds to fully comprehend) but after that moment they sort of never really believed in extraterrestrial beings.

At the endearment, Dean blushed heavily, embarrassment crossing through his eyes, which only made Lily's fondness grow.

He had the tendency of not knowing how to react after receiving any kind of love, even if it came from an endearment from his sister.

They never had a childhood, they never had anything- they only had each other, and those endearments made him think of his mother.

Of _their_ mother.

But then he had to remind himself that his mother would never get to laugh at his lame jokes in the way that Lily did, and that he would never hear any other woman call him an endearment with the amount of love and fondness that Lily always directed at him.

He never really showed it, but he had always been immensely glad for Lily's existence.

She had been the only one to show him love back when they were younger. Sam didn't count, for since he was younger than them by years, they had to protect _him_ and care _for_ him- ever since their father had ordered them to look after Sammy that night of the fire, it had been their _duty_.

They had to make sure to show him love, not to expect any from him.

Dean found himself crossing the distance between them and leaving a soft kiss against her forehead, which made her smile, her whole self filling with the undeniable and overwhelming love that he silently offered her.

Sam gave them a curious look, wondering what had made Dean react in that way. But he pushed those thoughts away; remembering that his older siblings had always been that way to each other. It was nice to see that, after years apart, they still loved each other that much.

Lily's eyes trailed over Dean's figure, who moved to ruffle Sam's hair before entering the bathroom. "What was that for?" Sam couldn't help but ask.

The young woman smiled at her little brother before approaching him and leaving a soft kiss upon his forehead, just like her older brother had just done for her.

"I have no idea, Sammy boy," The lie came out of her mouth as easy as breathing, as though she had been used to saying those words to him before.

Sam wouldn't comprehend the struggle they had been through together, how difficult it had been to care for him when they had been as young as he was, when they had the same needs as he. He could claim that he understood it perfectly well, but those things could only be truly understood by the people that went through it.

That's why he found himself, from time to time, annoyed with Dean's and Lily's never-ending attempts at protecting him.

It was frustrating for him, for he believed he was a young man capable of looking after himself on his own. He didn't realize- or perhaps he simply couldn't understand- that it had always been Dean's and Lily's duty to look after him and protect him, no matter how old he was.

It was their duty, and no one could take that away from them.

"C'mon, love," Lily guided him towards the door, stopping briefly to get her jacket and to glance back at the closed bathroom door. "Dean will meet us at the car."

...

Turns out that finding that abducted boy was quite simple.

He wasn't exactly hiding. They found him- a guy named Curtis- getting heavily drunk on the nearest bar in campus' area, close to where he had been supposedly abducted.

After some convincing from their part, the three Winchesters listened as the young man talked about his experience.

Curtis didn't want to talk about it at first, turning down their excuses of being reporters of a local newspaper, but after Dean offered to buy him more shots, he accepted.

He seemed a little too happy with the prospect of getting drunk.

Lily wasn't sure what she had been expecting- truthfully, she still couldn't believe she had accepted to sit in a bar and listen to a boy's insane tales about aliens- but it certainly wasn't what she saw on Curtis' eyes.

The young boy looked beyond frightened. Traumatized, even.

Usually, people that claimed to have been abducted never showed any kind of fear whatsoever. The videos she had seen about abducted people nearly always portrayed people that looked a little too excited to be sincere about their tales.

Curtis was not the case.

"-they did tests on me," Curtis was saying weakly. In front of him, he had about five or six different shots, and he took one of them, swallowing it all in a fraction of a second. "And they, um, they..." He looked like he didn't want to talk about it. "They probed me."

It took them a millisecond to process his words.

Sam looked away, fighting against the smile that threatened to blow his cover. He scratched his hair, trying to choke down the laughter that kept threatening to emerge from his throat.

At his side, Lily had to look down to keep herself from laughing. She didn't believe that boy for one second- he had probably been high or drunk, or even both to have seen all that- but the faces her brothers were making were too hilarious for her to handle the situation with the maturity that her job required.

Dean gave him a startled look. "They _probed_ you?" He sounded like he needed to be sure he had heard correctly.

"Yeah, they probed me," Curtis' voice broke. "Again, and again, and again-" He slammed his hand on one of the untouched shots, and drew the glass to his mouth shakily, drowning the liquor in one second. Sam and Dean shared a look with one another, while Lily didn't dare to look up in fear of not being able to stop her laughter from coming. "And again, and again, and _again_ , and then one more time."

Dean muttered an uncomfortable, "Yikes," while looking extremely startled at disgusted by the whole ordeal.

"And that's not even the worst of it."

Lily couldn't stop the mocking comment that came out of her mouth. "What? E.T made you his bitch?" She giggled a little, to then abruptly stop at the look that she received.

"It seems that E.T found his home on Curtis' ass-" Dean also received Curtis' glare, which made him swallow his words.

Lily was biting her lip to keep herself from laughing again.

Sam was trying very hard to remain serious.

Dean simply couldn't wrap his mind around the things the young abducted boy said.

"They-" Curtis finally decided to answer. "They made me...slow dance."

The three of them tried to process those words, but nothing reasonable came out of their thoughts. Dean kept trying to picture the whole ordeal, while Sam simply couldn't picture anything remotely close to that.

Lily scowled at him, sincerely confused. "Since when is slow-dancing worse than being probed?"

" _An alien made me slow dance_ ," Curtis stressed, as though that was the most reasonable answer he could come out with. Immediately after those words left his mouth, he drank another shot. "Do you have any idea what it was like?"

"I would, but I have never slow danced, so-" Lily shrugged at him. "I take it it was not heavenly nor romantic."

Curtis took another shot. "I slow danced with an alien." He kept repeating that, as though he couldn't believe it either. "Oh, God." He hid his face between his hands for a small moment, to then shakily look at the three of them.

"Okay." Lily stressed that word, trying to make him realize how insane he sounded. "What happened next, Curtis?" A mock gasp left her mouth, and she widened her eyes at him, a wicked smirk covering her mouth, "They invited you to prom?"

Either he missed her sarcasm, or he decided to ignore it.

"No, no, they...they dropped me back here after that."

"And how do you feel?" Sam inquired, for which Curtis shot him a look that was meant to show how horrible he felt.

"How would you feel?" He snapped, looking down at his multiple glass shots.

Sam rose his eyebrows at him, but didn't answer to his rhetorical question.

Curtis saw that as an opportunity to drink more, fingers shaking as he grabbed another shot.

"You should go easy on those-" Dean advised, wincing. He remembered the horrible hangover he had after drinking a couple of those with his casual fling from campus, a young woman named Starla, or something like that.

"Shut up," Curtis groaned, and took yet another shot.

"All right, we're done here," Lily rose from the table, rolling her eyes deeply. The younger boy's eyes shot upwards to meet hers, and she had to remind herself not to laugh again, for it could offend him greatly. "Curtis, take care of yourself, and thank you."

Curtis nodded solemnly, not looking forwards to being abducted ever again on his life, then took another purple shot.

Lily shared a look with her brothers, a mutual understatement passing through the three of them, and then they walked together towards the exit of the bar, Sam's shoulders twitching with silent laughter.

Once they were out of the bar, the three of them walked towards the car.

It took them about a minute to realize they were out of earshot and that they could finally react properly to all that happened.

Lily started to laugh.

Then Sam finally exploded, his careful facade of seriousness evaporating. "What the hell was that?" His laughter was unexpected, and it was so contagious that Dean was unable to keep himself from following his example and chuckling.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, this is just so-" Lily held a hand to her mouth, trying to control herself. "Ridiculous."

"Obviously fake," Dean agreed with her, the traces of his amusement dying away as he unlocked the Impala's doors and allowed them to enter the car.

Once the three of them were inside,- with Sam on the backseat and Lily happily sitting shotgun- the green-eyed woman remembered something. She wasn't sure how she had forgotten, but it could be due to the fact that Curtis' tale was completely and overwhelmingly mind-blowing.

"I forgot," She said, which made Dean raise his eyebrows, not surprised with that statement. "My ex sent me a picture of the entrance of Crawford Hall. There are marks of extraterrestrial spaceships on the grounds."

Dean shared a look with Sam, and then the younger man leaned towards them, so his head was literally in the middle of them, and the older man simply looked to the side to meet both their gazes.

"And _now_ you decide to tell us?"

She gave them an affronted look. "I didn't know a boy had claimed to have been abducted! And, come on, guys, aliens aren't real. It's probably fake too."

Sam sighed. "Yeah, but we still have to check it out."

Dean agreed. "Could be something else."

Lily sighed and leaned back on the seat, rolling her eyes. "Fine, fine. But if we get abducted and they force me to slow dance, you both will never hear the end of it."

"If an alien makes you slow dance," Dean smirked, driving away with his usual terrific speed. "We'll want to hear every single little detail about it."

She rolled her eyes again, though she was unable to hide an amused smile.

"Dude, wait." Sam slapped Dean's shoulder, moving so his head was between them again.

The green-eyed woman moved her hand so she was grabbing into Sam's hair, and started scratching at him and petting his head, which made Dean snort.

"What makes you think that some E.T will want to dance with Lily? Maybe they only go after dudes like Curtis."

Sam's voice had a teasing edge at the end, and Dean ended up shuddering at the thought.

Lily scoffed dramatically. "Uh, no?" She stopped petting her brother and turned to him, waving a hand through her face in what was meant to be seen as a showing-off gesture. "I'm devastatingly attractive, aliens would kill for a dance with me."

She sounded matter-of-fact as she said so, and ended up turning back to stare at the road as she waved a hand through her own hair, smiling when she heard her younger brother snort.

"Sure, Lily. Keep telling yourself that."

Dean glanced back at him. "Are you calling her ugly?"

"Wow, dude watch the road! The road!" Sam frantically pointed out. To make his point more reasonable, he gestured to the cars that honked at them for invading their lane for a moment.

Dean obliged, but grunted back a: "Answer me, Sam."

The poor younger boy was honestly startled by the fierceness on him.

"Dude, it was a joke, why do you-"

"She looks like me," Dean stressed, scowling, "You call _her_ ugly- you call _me_ ugly."

Sam finally understood what was going through his mind. He rolled his eyes and watched as their sister seemed to realize that small fact just then, a snort escaping her mouth.

The two of them had always been confused for twins. He was taller- obviously, Lily was only 5'3, and he was around six feet tall. But they had the same nose, the same smile, the same blonde hair- though Dean's had gotten a little darker than hers through the years- and the exact same shade of green eyes.

When he was young, Sam had been jealous of them for looking so alike. The only thing he had that reassembled them physically were his eyes, which were also green, but they changed shades depending on his surroundings. He had wanted, back when he was little and lonely, to have something that would make him more like them.

Now that he was older, he was embarrassed of having thought things like that in the past.

Lily patted Dean's arm affectionately. "Don't worry, he's just calling us ugly because he has better hair than us."

Sam groaned and sat back against the comfortable seat, rolling his eyes so profusely he was concerned they'd stay that way forever. "You both are idiots."

"We know," Dean and Lily shared a private smirk, then discretely fist-bumped one another.

Since it was still clear outside and the sun wouldn't go down in at least another hour or two, they decided to check the place Lily told them about- the place that had been supposedly scorched by engine marks.

She mentioned how alike it looked to those Internet photographs about corn fields with strange marks, and it only made them more incredulous of the whole situation.

After driving for about five minutes, they found themselves at Crawford Hall.

Sam and Dean were the first to exit the car, while Lily waited a couple more of minutes to follow them. She had been looking around as they walked, frightened to see Caleb between the gigantic mass of people watching the scorch marks, but there were too many people around, and she didn't know if he still looked the same.

Not to mention, half the people there had already seen her before. At the professor's memorial, where she had disguised herself as a nun. She did not want to have to play dress-up again, no matter how much she liked playing like that, she was too tried to attempt at it again.

But, she thought, maybe people _wouldn't_ recognize her.

And even if someone recognized her, after seeing that she had normal clothes on and all that, they would instantly think that they were confusing her with someone else.

There was no harm.

The only thing holding her back was the prospect of running into Caleb there, but even that was weakened by her immense curiosity.

She wanted to see how the thing on the photograph looked in person.

Sighing deeply, she gathered her courage and decided to exit the car.

She was just closing the door when she heard her brothers talking in the distance.

"What the hell-" Dean was saying.

"I'm telling you, Dean, this marks were made by some sort of jet engine."

"You mean some saucer-shaped jet engine?"

"What else could it be?"

"What the hell?" Dean repeated.

"I don't know."

"Seriously, dude, what the hell?"

Lily had been hesitantly trying to make way between the mass of students and personal gathered around the gardens- accidentally bumping into a few of them- where she knew the scorch marks would be at.

At last, she finally found herself at the side of her brothers, and then when she looked down at the grass, her breath died on her throat.

It looked more impressing in person, and way more real than it had on the photo she received.

Looking more directly at it, she realized that what Sam had said was true- it could've only been made by a jet engine.

It had too many patterns; little circular designs inside of bigger circular patterns and complicated designs. It couldn't have been made by any other kind of thing, and certainly it couldn't have been faked.

"What-" She forced herself to sound collected, but she detected a small hint of uncertainty on her voice. "What is happening in this place? Angry ghosts, sexed-up aliens-" She trailed off, searching her brothers' eyes, but the two of them looked equally lost.

Sam finally shook his head, "We got to keep digging on."

"What?" Dean looked at him. "Where could we possibly get information- real information- about aliens."

"There's got to be some kind of connection," Sam said to himself, to then look at them. "The timing alone is too far close to one another."

"What could the connection possibly be?" Dean pointed out, annoyed at how lost he felt.

That case was unlike any other insane case he had ever worked on. There was _nothing_ remotely alike to the things happening on his father's journal. There was nothing remotely close to what could be tying a ghost and an alien together.

"We should-" Lily frowned, then shook her head. "Maybe the connection is not between the alien and the ghost, but between the victims."

"We should talk to Curtis' classmates," Sam agreed after a small pause of consideration. "Hear what they have to say about the whole abduction thing."

"And we should hope that nothing else happens in the meantime," Lily added, which made her brothers curious. At their looks, she continued. "I mean, a sexed-up aliens and an angry ghosts? What's next, the Hulk appearing and teaching cooking classes?"

She could've hit herself after saying that. Whatever was causing those strange sightings around campus could be listening to them, for all she knew. And then she had to go around giving it new ideas. It could come back to bite her in the ass.

Her brothers didn't seen to think the same things as her, for they simply shrugged and decided to head back to the motel. They were tired and mentally exhausted, having to comprehend all those new things in a small moment, and wanted nothing more than to drink and sleep for a while.

Lily, on the other hand, was running on adrenaline.

She wanted to keep digging around, see what else she could find, even when it seemed almost impossible for her to find something related to those things.

"You guys go ahead," She told them. "I'll stick around for a while, see if I can find anything on the case."

"You mean, see if you can find your ex?" Dean gave her a knowing look.

Lily felt like throwing up. " _No_."

The least she wanted was to see him. It frustrated her that her brothers were so oblivious to how uncomfortable she actually felt when it came to him.

Dean simply shrugged.

Sam watched her carefully. "But you will talk to him, right? Thank him for telling you about this-" He gestured to the ground beneath their feet, "-thing?"

"Eventually, I guess," She lied carefully, knowing that her brothers could detect her deceiving tone in an instant. "Just not today."

There was nothing to thank him for. He had sent a picture, she had answered. He hadn't contacted her in years, and he only did it because he feared his job could be in jeopardy.

"I'm just going to stick around for a little while," Lily added and looked around distractedly. "See if something else happens, talk to possible witnesses; that sort of stuff."

Dean nodded. "Call us when you're done and we'll come pick you up."

She had left her car back at the motel, having chosen to ride with her brothers instead of driving, which meant she'd have to walk back to her motel. It wasn't too far, but it was almost sundown, and walking alone at night in a college campus didn't sound like the safest option she could take. She did get scared, even when she knew she could deal with whatever could try to attack her. However, the thought of making her brothers pick her up when she was done made her feel like a burden.

She shook her head at them. "There's no need, I'll walk."

Sam scowled at her. "You sure?"

Lily nodded.

...

It was almost midnight when she decided to make her way back home. She had briefly spoken to a few of Curtis' classmates, but none of them ever seemed to believe the insane tale he told about his abduction, which was to be expected.

Needless to say, she had nothing on the case, and her frustration only seemed to grow with each passing moment.

What could be causing those things?

She refused to believe an actual alien had abducted a stupid college kid.

But she also refused to think that Arthur Cox had committed suicide.

Her thoughts made the whole situation harder; she was trying to find a connection between a ghost and an alien, something that was, quite literally, impossible. She had a horrible headache and as she kept walking, a bolt of pain coursed through her recently injured stomach.

 _I want to go back home._ The thought was abrupt and not what she had expected to think about the night after a new look on her most recent case came. With a startle, she realized that part of her had begun to consider that apartment her home, even when it was supposed to be only a shelter for her.

The thing was- she had not expected to think that, not when she had a case. Usually in those moments, all that could plague her mind were thoughts about said case, not a vulnerable thought about home.

She felt out of place for a moment- and though she didn't know if she was paranoid or not- part of her also felt like someone was watching her.

It was for that reason that she decided to walk faster, even when she was supposed to be able to defend herself. She didn't know who- or _what_ \- could be watching her; it was better to make a run for it until she knew what she was dealing with.

It was the smart thing to do.

When the presence behind her started to feel more close, she veered around and entered the first open shop she could see- which ended up being a small ice-cream shop.

It was partially empty, but the few people that were inside turned to glance at her when she entered, her breathing a little forced, her face flushed. The person behind the counter greeted her with a smile, and she forced herself to return the gesture.

Something about her face must've shown how shaken she actually felt, because the woman scowled and proceeded to give her a worried look. "Are you all right, miss?"

"I'm sorry," Lily said, moving closer to the counter, her limbs shaking. "I-"

She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched off her body. The presence she had felt had deliberately made itself known- whatever they were hunting down knew that it was being hunted down. She bit her lower lip worriedly.

"Is there a phone I could use?" Her phone was on her jacket pocket, but she wanted to have an excuse to stick inside the place for a little longer.

It was warm and cozy, and the ice cream she saw looked quite delicious. She felt stupid for being so scared, but eventually, she managed to push those feelings away, and found herself smiling at the polite woman behind the counter.

She was _safe_. Whatever had been following her wouldn't make its presence known in a shop filled with people. It was too risky, even for a monster.

"Of course, miss. It's right at the back."

Lily followed the woman's instruction.

She walked to the back of the store, where tables for two were aligned at, and just as she was about to approach the landline phone- wondering who the hell to call to pretend she had actually wanted to use the phone- she caught a glimpse of a familiar man, siting alone in one of those two-person tables, an ice cream cone on his hands.

Before she could open her mouth to greet him, he looked up and saw her.

"Hey," She offered him a real smile.

He easily returned the gesture, then beckoned her to come closer, looking friendly enough for her to be comfortable with the request.

She did, forgetting about the phone and her pretend mission. She walked tentatively, as though she did not know what to make of their encounter, and that alone made his eyes crinkle with amusement.

"Dropped out of the religious life so soon?" The janitor raised an eyebrow, pointing one finger at her normal clothes.

Lily could've hit herself. Somehow, through her surprise at seeing him again, and her fear of being followed, she had forgotten that out of everyone she talked to while dressed as a nun, the janitor would most certainly recognize her, for she had talked to him more than to the others.

"It's laundry day," It was such a lame excuse that she cringed inwardly after saying that.

The janitor gave her an amused smile, looking like he did not believe her for one second. "Huh. I didn't know nuns could be out of the church so late at night."

Lily contributed his look with her own amused little smirk. "We can't."

The janitor's smirk changed considerably. He looked up and down at her, as though trying to soak in as much about her as he could. There was an emotion on his peculiarly alluring eyes, one that was familiar with, but she dared not think much of that; she was supposed to be concentrated on her job, not on attractive guys giving her bedroom eyes. Though she hoped to have hidden it well, the intensity of his gaze made Lily's knees weak.

"Naughty nun." His low voice gave her chills; and this time she couldn't hide the blush that cornered her cheeks.

He was surprised when, despite of her initial surprise, she offered him a smirk that could rival his own.

"You have no idea," Lily answered, not missing a beat.

In that moment, she looked like a sinful goddess, with her delicate face flushed with delight, her green eyes portraying an unabashed amount of lust that made the janitor's throat feel dry, anticipation filling his veins, even though he knew that nothing could ever come of their playful words.

Part of him knew he was playing with fire- and that it was not right- but he wanted to burn, very badly.

"Perhaps you could show me some time just how naughty you are," He suggested, watching as she drew a chair out for herself and sat across from him.

"Perhaps I will," Lily's eyes were locked upon his own, the intensity of her gaze making the janitor more desperate to drown on the fire she offered him willingly.

He parted his lips, then made his mind about the matter. It would do them no good to continue that relentless teasing- he would only get his balls more blue than they already felt- and there were still things he wanted to discuss with her.

Before he could, however, it was the young blonde woman that sought another topic of conversation:

"Did you hear about the alien abduction?"

The janitor shrugged, a gesture that was meant to denote indifference, though his eyes were hiding a gleam of real interest on the matter.

"The abducted kid sounded pretty shaken about the whole ordeal."

"If you ask me, E.T's favorite dance partner was simply extremely stoned that night."

The janitor tilted his head to the side, watching her intently. "Is that what you think?"

Honestly, Lily did not know what to believe about the whole ordeal. She was only aware of the fact that part of her refused to accept the thought of aliens kidnapping college students.

He continued when it was clear she had nothing to say about the matter. "You know, not to scare you off or anything-" He said in a way that obviously denoted that he wanted to scare her off. "But it's not the first time something like that happens around here."

That statement gave Lily a small sense of impending doom. "What do you mean?"

There had been more strange things happening in campus?

If the janitor was speaking the truth, then it meant that Caleb had been hiding strange events from her- from the only hunter he knew. He had mentioned the alien thing, but what about the other things happening on campus?

Lily gritted her teeth in annoyance, though under that thick layer of annoyance and irritation, she could only feel worried. What was exactly happening on that place?

The janitor looked thrilled to receive her question- showing a little too much interest in the matter. His eyes brightened with mischief, and for the first time in the night, she saw him disregard his ice cream cone and fully concentrate on her.

"For years, this place has been plagued by strange events."

"Such as?"

"Strange, unusual encounters with beings that are not meant to exist." The janitor shrugged, making a gesture with his hand to demonstrate they had been a lot of cases like that.

"Could you be kind enough to elaborate?"

"A woman claimed her boyfriend, who had cheated on her with her own mother, was devoured by a murderous merman that lived in the local pool by Crawford Hall."

Lily processed that for a small moment, then frowned, her confusion being extremely obvious. She titled her head to the side, considering the thing she had just heard, then decided she had no idea what to make of it.

"A merman?"

"It ate the woman's mother and her cheating boyfriend." A wide grin started to form on the janitor's face, mirth written all over his features. "Of course, no one ever believed her. They're still missing, and she's currently stuck in the loony-bin, but otherwise, happy."

"Happy?" Lily was dumbstruck. "She saw a-" She stopped herself, it didn't make sense, so she pushed it away as madness from the woman. "All right, what else?"

The janitor shrugged again, this time looking less excited about their main topic of conversation. "I told you- strange things. It's probably just bullshit."

The young woman could not agree with him in that. Even if things sounded strange, there was a minimum possibility that it might be true. She had to hear what he had to say about the matter, it was the least she could do to try and understand what was happening in that place.

"I'm a sucker for those stories," Lily forced a grin into her face, swallowing her concerns. "Guilty pleasure of mine. A little secret I keep from the Church."

The janitor observed her for a moment, then decided to oblige to her silent request, and then he proceeded to tell her about the other things that had happened around campus.

"A man set fire to a forest filled with boy-scout children, harming most of them; the next day, he choked on a tree that had been growing inside his stomach. Another man was charged against fraud for the company he worked at, then the next day he was found on the hospital, claiming Wonder Woman had attacked him. A woman died at the hands of an overgrown butterfly-"

Lily's face must've denoted her skepticism, because he trailed off.

"I'm sorry," She said, once she noticed he had stopped because of her. "It's just that it sounds-" She struggled to find a word to describe the situation, but couldn't find one.

"I know," The janitor agreed. "Believe me, it's even hard for me to believe, and I live here."

"When did this all start?" Lily wondered, scowling as she tried to remember any capture that could cause all those strange event.

Perhaps it wasn't only one creature, it could also be a bunch of creatures causing that. Crawford Hall could be plagued by a pack of monsters, for all she knew. That thought alone made the young blonde woman more frustrated than she had ever felt, and more keen on finding out exactly what was happening there.

"Years ago. By the time I arrived here to work at Crawford Hall, the woman I told you about had already been admitted into the asylum for seeing a merman."

"And you have no idea when it started?"

He shook his head, looking sincere. "Like I told you, it had already started when I arrived here."

Lily considered his words for a minute. The more she knew, the less she understood about the case. Once it was clear that their topic of conversation had died away, she realized it would be better for her to leave.

It was already late, and her brain was starting to get slow from how exhausting that day had been.

She looked at the janitor, about to say goodbye, when she realized he was already staring at her. For a small couple of seconds, their eyes remained locked, then he was the first to look away, "What are you doing out here so late?"

It was not a question she was expecting, so it took her a short moment to rearrange her thoughts.

"I was walking back to the m- to the church," She corrected herself quickly, remembering who she was supposed to be, "But then, um, I didn't feel so safe walking alone through the street. I saw this place was open and decided to come in."

The janitor frowned. "Did something attack you?"

Lily didn't miss the way he said some _thing_ instead of some _one_.

Pushing it aside, she shook her head. "It was just a bad feeling. Probably nothing, if I'm honest."

"I can walk you home if you want," The janitor offered kindly, looking sincere about his offer and his intentions. "If you're comfortable with it."

A warm smile appeared on Lily's face. Truthfully, after how she felt walking alone on the street, a little company would've been deeply appreciated. She couldn't accept, however, for two reasons: she was supposed to be a nun, and she couldn't let him see that she was staying at a motel, that would fuck the whole cover up; and if there was something out there targeting her, she didn't want it to target another innocent.

"Thank you for your kind offer, sir. But walking back to the Church in company of a man this late at night? It might not be the brightest idea."

"Sister-" He started.

"Lily," The young blonde woman corrected him, out of a knee-jerk reaction, to then remember her cover. She had introduced herself as Sister Grace, but it wouldn't harm anyone if she told the janitor her real name. She'd already almost blown her cover several times that night, a last one wouldn't do much trouble.

The janitor gave her a friendly smile, though there was a deep amount of amusement on his eyes. "Loki," He introduced himself. "My name is Loki."

Lily stood from the table after offering him one last polite smile. "I'll see you around, hopefully. Thank you, again."

He waved her goodbye, his eyes watching her retreating figure until she was out of the shop, and merging with the darkness of the night. 

...

When she arrived at her motel room, she went straight towards the wall she had decorated to pinpoint the exact locations of campus where the incidents had happened. She had about a dozen new locations and stories now, but as she started to mark the places, she realized it all went back to Crawford Hall.

Every single one of the incidents- of the strange events that took place- had happened in- or close to- Crawford Hall.

It could only mean that the monster she was trying to hunt was there.

Lily felt a small speck of triumph after that realization. After days of being completely lost, she finally found a new perspective. She didn't know _what_ was out the causing harm, but she knew _where_ to start looking.

She patted her jacket, looking for her cellphone, having intended to send a text message to her brothers to let them know of her discovery, when she realized her cellphone was nowhere to be found. It was strange, because she was sure she had it on her pockets the whole night- it was there, she was sure of it.

But no matter how hard she looked though her pockets, she couldn't find it.

She thought back to the way she had felt as though being watched. A sickening feeling of disgust and concern overcame her senses. Did the monster take her phone?

Lily decided she couldn't take any risks. If it was a smart monster, it could use her cellphone to lure her brothers out and harm them. Wanting to be smarter than whatever had taken her phone- because she refused to even think about having lost it on her own- she moved towards the room's phone and dialed her brother's number.

It went straight to voicemail.

She called about four times before she decided it was better to leave it be.

Knowing her brothers, they were probably busy with other stuff and could not answer her.

At once, exhaustion took hold of her body, and she moved towards the bathroom to heal her almost-healed wound, and to get ready for bed. She was just changing into more comfortable clothes when she heard the motel room's door swing open.

Some other time, she would've stayed hidden until she heard who or what was inside her room, but she had grown irritated with the thought of being followed by a monster, and she reacted without thinking much about it.

There was one of her duffel bags on the bathroom, and the young hunter rummaged through it carefully until she found one of her guns. Brandishing it, she wasted no time. Storming out of the room, she pointed her gun at the intruders.

Only that they were not intruders.

It was her brothers.

They stared at her for a moment, taking in the fact that she looked a little agitated, and the fact that she had almost shoot them.

"Seriously?" Lily demanded, exasperated. She lowered the gun and secured its lock again. She was about to say more, but then recognized the look upon their faces. Dread filled her whole body, knowing immediately that something had happened.

Before she could ask, Sam answered. "There's been another attack." The look on his face was a message clear enough for her: the victim had not survived.

"Aliens?" Lily scowled.

Collectively, her brothers shook their heads.

"We don't know yet," Sam said at last. That was another way of saying they had no idea what had attacked someone recently, or how exactly they had died. "The man died this morning, apparently killed. The cops have not released the cause of death- which means it could be related to the things we hunt."

That was what hunters did most. Investigate possible occurrences that could be cases- they had to take risks of encountering normal things while seeking monsters.

"Let's go," Dean cut their small talk, exasperated, as he always got when he had zero idea what to make of a situation. "We're gonna hit the morgue."

The green-eyed woman didn't bother changing clothes, she simply moved towards her duffel bags and took a jacket out, covering her whole body with it, and then securing some weapons as well, just in case things did not go as planned.

Her brothers walked her to the parking lot, where they had parked the Impala, and Sam obediently went to sit by the backseat without needing to be told twice. Lily entered the car, and then Dean drove away in his usual, crazed way.

For most of the trip, they were in silence.

It was only when they were almost at the morgue when Sam decided to break the silence.

"What happened to you?"

Dean looked at him through the rear-view mirror, wondering if he meant him, but found that his eyes were glued to the back of Lily's head. The older Winchester patted Lily's knee to make her see that their little brother was talking to her.

"Mm?" She glanced back briefly. "What do you mean?"

"You've been very agitated today," Sam noticed, careful on his words, as though he did not want to offend her. "You almost shot us twice."

The young woman thought about lying, it was the easiest way out of the conversation, but somehow, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to lie to her younger brother.

"I just have a lot on my mind today," She admitted at last. "I don't know what to make of this case and it's eating me away. Then there's the fact that I think something was following me earlier-" That captured their attentions greatly. "I couldn't see what it was, but I could feel it. It followed me as I walked back to the motel, and when the feeling grew too unbearable, I entered a crowded shop to hide."

Dean locked eyes with Sam through the mirror. Their sister had never been one to hide from a monster.

"What happened?"

She shrugged, looking away. "Nothing, really. I stayed there for a while, saw the janitor from Crawford Hall, and we talked for a little while. Apparently, things like this have been happening for a long time now."

Their brothers asked what she meant by that, and she told them the stories the janitor had told her. They were as confused as she had been after hearing about them, but a little more willing to believe them than she had been.

"I almost shot you guys because I thought the monster had gotten into my room." Lily said at last, feeling stupid for having thought in that way. She felt her siblings gaze upon her, and continued: "It's been a long day, and my mind was still plagued with the consuming feeling that the thing following me had."

"Consuming feeling?"

"Power," Lily explained carefully, trying to find words to explain the sensation. "So many power, like you two would never believe. It was-" She stopped herself. Overwhelming. Intimidating. Bone-shattering.

"What are we dealing with?" Dean frowned, a rhetorical question leaving his lips. "All the things happening, that power you felt-" He shared another look with Sam through the mirror, but his younger brother looked as lost as he was feeling.

"We just got to keep digging," Lily replied tiredly, a sigh leaving her mouth. She rested her head against the window, and closed her eyes. "Something will come up, eventually."

It had to. The thought of abandoning a case like that, just for not knowing what they were dealing with, was unacceptable. Their job was to protect people. They had to do their part, they could not- and would not- give up.

...

Instead of finding more clues on the newest victim, they could only find more doubts.

Sam had a small theory, but Dean was hesitant to believe him.

Lily didn't know what to make of the situation. As always, she was in the middle of them. She could say that Sam had a point, it certainly sounded and looked like an urban legend involving alligators and sewers, but Dean also had a good point. People had never proved the existence of monstrous alligators in sewers.

She didn't dare take any sides on their small argument- she knew that it would only make one of them frustrated at her. She did what she usually did, she stayed in the middle, not taking any sides.

"What? Well, Dean, it's a classic urban legend. A kid flushes a baby gator down the toilet, and it grows huge in the tunnels." Sam didn't look convinced, but that was as much as he could think of from the mauled remains of that man that was killed.

"But no one's ever really found one. I mean, they-they're not real."

"Well, neither's alien abduction, but something chomped on this guy."

Dean sighed tiredly. "This couldn't get any weirder."

"Maybe we should get some help-" Sam started.

Dean gave Sam a look, interrupting him before he could finish. "Lily was our back-up."

"Lily is right here, and trying not to feel offended," Lily pursed her lips, though she kept staring at the mauled body pieces in front of her. Part of her had known that they had contacted her because they thought she could be useful for the case, but a bigger part of her had hoped for it to be because they had missed her too much.

She could almost feel the regret coming from her older brother when he stood besides her.

"What's your opinion?" Dean questioned. There was nothing he hated more than when she stayed in the middle of their conversations, never taking sides nor talking about her own conclusions. It frustrated him to no end. It was one of those things that could grow old very quick.

She hadn't expected him to acknowledge his mistake, but the fact that he didn't only made her feel more offended, and a little bit sadder than usual.

Lily shrugged and stared instead at Sam, who was looking at them with a doubtful look on his eyes. "It looks like an alligator's scale, that much I cannot deny. But like you said-"

"Forget what we said." Dean rolled his eyes. "What do _you_ think?"

Lily pursed her lips. Part of her wanted not to answer, but she was so exhausted that the words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself:

"Perhaps we could call Bobby. He's encountered many things through his life, maybe he knows what's happening here."

"Oh, I'm sure he has." Dean returned sarcastically. "Just your typical haunted campus, alien abduction, alligator-in-the-sewer gig."

Lily didn't like the thought of giving up on a case, but no matter how much research she did, she could not discover what was causing those things. Bobby could know, he had more experience than them.

A little help was well welcomed, considering how disastrous things were going for them in that case.


	3. A Trickster in Campus

**_Disclaimer_** : Supernatural does not belong to me. Only the plot, and some characters, like Lily, are mine.

 _English is not my native language, so I apologize in advantage for any mistake I might have._

 _I am deeply sorry for taking so long to post this chapter. I had a busy summer, and then I started college (which took all my free time) and then hurricane Maria hit my island, leaving us without electricity for months. But here it is, finally posted. Hope you guys enjoy!_

* * *

…

Chapter 3

...

It would take Bobby Singer a few hours to arrive at Springfield, which meant that the three hunters had to be around each other for a longer period of time than desired.

Their arguments were getting more ridiculous with each passing moment, something that only made the blonde woman extremely irritated and prone to snap at anyone that came her way.

Then Sam had the audacity of bringing Lily into one of his pointless arguments with Dean- that time their argument had been about who was to blame for their problems, and he wanted her to choose a side and declare which of them was right and who was wrong- and the young woman finally exploded:

"I swear to whatever deity is out there listening to me," Lily thundered when the pressure on her head became too much for her to bear. She always suffered from headaches, and feeling stressed only made it worse, "I will shoot you both right in the balls if any of you do as much as breathe in my direction again."

Dean backed away instantly, but the only reaction that she got out of Sam was one of his infamous bitch faces, which angered his older sister in a way that she had not been angered in years.

"Lily-" The blond man tried to adopt a casual voice, but he eyed her with precaution, noticing her building rage.

Sam opened his mouth to retort.

The fact that he had the audacity of ignoring her words made her rage explode, she moved from the bed in one swift movement and got one of her guns out of her duffel bag.

The tall man took one step back, hands flying to his crotch to protect himself. Dean watched with wide eyes from the other side of the room as his little brother was frozen with his hands over his crotch, eyes wide with precaution as he eyed the short woman in front of him.

Lily was glaring at both, though her eyes kept going back to Sam.

"I'm going out," She waved the gun at them as she talked- she was always big on hand gestures when she was angry- and while they knew she would never shoot accidentally (she was perfectly skilled in the art of shooting) they flinched when it was pointed at them. "When I get back, both of you better be- _fucking_ -have."

"Bobby-" Dean started, his voice breaking with fear. He tried for a smile, but it died away once his sister looked at him.

"Won't be here in the next hours." Lily tried to control her anger and settle down. "I'm leaving before I do something I know I _won't_ regret." She gave Sam a pointed look, "Because I won't regret shooting your dick."

There was a heavy pressure on her head, right in the middle of her skull, that made it hard to concentrate on more than one thing at a time.

 _That's_ what she hated the most of her never-ending headaches, that they were so strong that she could barely think straight.

"Be-" Dean cleared his throat, happy she hadn't said anything about his penis. "Be safe."

She crossed the room to get a jacket from her duffel bags, and once she had wrapped it over her body, and secured the gun in one of its internal pockets, she allowed her eyes to roam through her brothers' faces before pursing her lips and marching straight out of the room.

When she was gone, Sam and Dean were submerged in silence for a small amount of time.

Last time the three of them fought, Sam had been to one to initiate it, too.

He looked away, swallowing thickly to appease the uncomfortable lump on his throat.

When they talked about her actions- how she abandoned them for years after one big fight with John- (and they usually never talked about it because it wasn't an easy topic for neither of them) she claimed she hadn't been angry at them. All her rage had been directed at their father.

Dean's chest tightened painfully. She looked at them with the same rage that she used to direct at their father; she had the same detached look that she wore the day she disappeared.

"I-" Sam started, uncomfortable. "I don't want her to-"

"I know," Dean interrupted him. After a small pause, he added, "Me neither."

The blond man just hoped their sister wouldn't leave them because of that. He knew that as soon as the case was over they'd part ways, but part of him still hoped she would choose to stay with them. There were no words that could describe how much he missed having her on his life.

...

There had been another animal attack in campus.

Somehow, a bear had managed to enter a six-story dorm room unnoticed. The dorm had been habited by four men; all of them died. After the local policemen had gone through everything on the crime scene, the remains of the bodies were taken away for further examination, and janitors were allowed to enter to clean the scene.

A tragedy had occurred, but the dorm room was still in excellent conditions, which meant it could be rented to other students once a reasonable amount of time- a week by most- had passed to "respectfully" forget the disaster.

The walls were full of blood, as were the floors, but the beds were the most disastrous sight in the room.

They had been broken, almost as if the animal had jumped there to kill those college boys- which, in a way, must've been what happened.

A janitor approached one of the beds, having been told to take care of the sheets while the others cleaned the walls and the floors. He approached with a grimace, knowing he'd have to make a lot of strength to try and fix the bent beds. He settled for changing the sheets first- and when he had started to take the sheets off the mattress, he recognized a difference substance mixed with blood, and his stomach dropped.

"Oh, God," He muttered, hands flying to his mouth in a fable attempt to contain his disgust.

Behind him, footsteps approached. "What- oh."

He turned and recognized the janitor that had been assigned to mop the floors. "Hey, Loki."

"Garcia," Loki acknowledged the greeting, but did not glance at him. His eyes were glued to the sheets in front of him, an unreadable expression crossing his face. Then, as sudden as he had appeared there, his whole expression brightened with one of his cheerful smiles, and he said jovially, "What an awful day to be working, huh, buddy?"

Annoyance coursed through Garcia's whole body. "At least you're not the one in charge of cleaning cum-ridden sheets."

A wicked look crossed Loki's face, but before the other janitor could completely comprehend it, the look was gone, and he bore his usual charismatic, care-free expression. "C'mon, it's not the first time we've encountered cum on sheets."

"It's disgusting," Garcia huffed, as though he had never masturbated on a bed. "And this is a crime scene; there's also blood there." A small pause, then he considered something more disturbing, and grimaced, "Oh God, the beast probably ate their private parts."

The golden-eyed man whistled happily as he turned, having grown bored of the other man, and said: "Well, I guess some people are into bestiality."

It took the dark-haired man a long while to fully comprehend what the other man had implied.

 _Bestiality_.

Garcia had a mental picture of those four men in the room, growing aroused with an animal that was meant to kill them. Or perhaps, his mind took another turn, they had sexual intercourse with the animal and it had killed them.

It was preposterous, it was ridiculous. Yet something about Loki's words had stuck inside his brain and refused to leave.

He felt a new wave of disgust surging through his stomach, and he forced himself to drown the cheerful voice of the other janitor away from his system.

Loki liked to talk as he worked; he had an ongoing conversation with the others cleaning around them.

Garcia despised it. He despised that others were so engrossed in Loki's anecdotes that they neglected their work- work that, in the end, he was forced to finish for them.

Garcia hated that about Loki.

He hated that his words had a way of engrossing everyone that listened to him.

He hated that he was not immune to his charms. His words were still deeply rooted into his brain. All sort of wild ideas had appeared on his mind- _what if Loki was right? What if they had fucked the bear before it killed them? What if it was not an actual bear?_ Unnatural things _were_ happening all around campus; everything was possible.

While the dark-haired man was distracted with his thoughts, he failed to realize that the very reason for his thoughts to be a mess was staring at him.

Every little movement he made was carefully watched by the other janitor, a familiar fire on his eyes, similar to the way a predator looked at its next prey.

"Garcia," Loki called.

His voice woke the other man from within his thoughts, and so the raven-haired janitor turned to look at the blond one. His smile was familiar, it was the same charismatic one that he bore at all times, but Garcia sensed something different on it. An edge he could not recognize, but that made his bones tremble.

"Yes?"

"You should join me for lunch today," His words were honey-laced, there was no way anyone could ever refuse him if he used that tone. "We never hang out, what kind of work-buddies are we?"

Garcia wanted to point that they were not buddies, that he could not stand his charisma and the way he won everyone around him with just a smile. But the words died on his throat, swallowed by the impending force of the nice invitation he had received. He didn't want to be rude, even when he didn't like the other man.

"Sure," He said at last, regretting his words before they were fully out of his mouth. "Sounds like a blast."

There was a peculiar twinkle on Loki's eyes when he said: "Believe me, Caleb Garcia, it will be."

...

Lily entered a small cafeteria close to the university.

She had been there before, back when she used to live close to campus with her ex-fiancé, and therefore knew and liked that cafeteria. She wasn't hungry- the anger she still felt made it impossible for her to feel any other emotion or need- but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something observing her.

She thought she'd be safer there, surrounded by normal people. Whatever was still following her wouldn't dare to attack in such a crowded space and reveal itself. It seemed to be a basic rule for the demons she haunted- most only attacked when there were no witnesses around.

And so, even though memories from the past threatened to overcome her with every step she took closer to that cafeteria, she entered through its open doors and moved towards an empty table.

A familiar-looking woman saw her and smiled brilliantly. "Lilian! My God, it's so good to see you again!"

Lily forced herself to return the affectionate greeting, plastering a smile into her face and trying to focus on the older woman whose name she did not remember. It was the owner of the cafeteria, she knew that much, and coincidentally she had also been one of her neighbors when she stayed in Caleb's house, but she couldn't remember her name.

"Good morning." She looked around the cafeteria and forced another smile into her face, one that looked more like a grimace. "It's, um, good to be back."

If the older woman noticed how insincere it sounded, she didn't comment on it. Instead, her smile only seemed to get sweeter and softer with each passing second: "Well, my dear, what can I get you?"

 _"How can you like hot chocolate?"_ The first time Caleb and Lily went there to eat, he had scowled at her choice of food and drink, saying instead: " _Have a coffee, they make them delicious here."_ And before she could point out that she didn't really like coffee, he turned to the waitress and said, " _Two black coffees, no sugar, please."_

"Hot chocolate," Lily answered instantly, feeling a certain warmness starting to circle her body at the thought of being able to drink whatever she wanted and not what others wanted. "Please and thank you."

The older woman nodded and went away.

Lily looked around for a long moment, then decided that she was exactly where she was meant to be. However full of memories that cafeteria was, it was the right place to forget about her brothers for a moment.

It was a good place to be alone- it was very crowded, and people's conversations served as the perfect background noise. It was a place where, no matter how alone you were, you could never feel lonely at.

And most importantly, as soon as she entered, the feeling of being observed disappeared.

The old woman came back with her order, and with another sweet smile, she went away for good.

Lily looked around, feeling lost in the crowd of people. Her eyes moved to the table unconsciously as she wrapped her hands over the hot cup. There were multiple names carved into the fine wood of the old tables, and with a hint of melancholy, she remembered how she had, once upon a time, carved her own initials alongside Caleb's.

Lily couldn't hide her disgust.

It seemed like so much time had passed since that moment, she felt naive for having done something like that. It was stupid, now that she came to think about it; stupid and juvenile.

 _"Words ain't gonna get you anywhere, girl."_ The words John Winchester had said when she told him she was engaged came back to her at the most opportune moment. _"Your man says he can deal with our job, but you just wait until he has a real glimpse of the unnatural."_

That was the only thing John Winchester had been right about when it came to Lily.

Caleb had not been one to understand the supernatural world.

Her younger self had been stupid and naive just like that: carving initials in tables as a sign of love, accepting orders from her fiancé, changing who she was to appease him and others, etc.

She thought back to all she had- or what she had attempted to have- with Caleb, and what she had in that moment.

Truthfully, she was alone, because she was well-aware that her reencounter with her brothers was just that, a reencounter. They would part ways as soon as the case was finished- too many years had passed between them, they wouldn't be comfortable if they tried to go back to how things were when they were younger; and even if they asked her to stay with them, she wasn't sure she would agree.

She didn't like being alone, but it was better to be alone than to be a risk to others.

Since it was just her, she had no one to worry about in the cases- she only had herself to look out for.

If she joined her brothers again, she knew she would worry about her brothers' safety over everything else- and it was not a good thing to do when dealing with unnatural stuff.

Lily rubbed her hands distractedly over the cup's edges, enjoying the warmness that it possessed against the coldness of the cafeteria. From the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of the pastries section of the cafeteria, but before she could observe much of it, her eyes got stuck on the multiple pies it had.

The pressure on her head- caused by irritation and anger- seemed to evaporate instantly, and with a soft sigh, the young woman thought about buying Dean a slice of his favorite dessert.

A soft smile appeared on her lips.

Her resolve broke, and she sighed deeply to herself. She'd been lying to herself; if her brothers asked her to stay with them, she knew she would most definitely accept.

She loved them that much, which was why she was trying to convince herself that they weren't going to ask her that; she didn't want to get her hopes up in case they didn't.

She wasn't the same girl she had been before, and they weren't the boys they had been before either; but they were her _brothers_ \- they were her happiness (but also her biggest headache). Part of her wanted to stay with them, even when she knew it wouldn't end well.

Before she could move from the table and towards the desserts section, though, she caught a glimpse of a bunch of people entering the cafeteria. The very first one to enter was the janitor from Crawford Hall, and upon seeing him, Lily couldn't help the smile that cornered her lips.

As though feeling her glance on him, he turned his head and caught her eye.

He smiled.

Lily blushed, but smiled back nonetheless, startled by the fondness that she perceived on his stare.

But then, someone else entered right behind Loki, and she recognized him before having an actual glimpse of his face. Her whole body froze, her smile dying away as her heart hammered wildly against her chest, a shot of adrenaline coursing through her whole body.

 _Caleb_.

With all the janitors that worked in Crawford Hall, she never imagined the possibility of Loki and Caleb knowing one another.

After what seemed like a long moment, but what was probably only a couple of seconds, she forced herself to look away.

She felt the janitor's eyes on her, but she didn't dare look back in case her ex-boyfriend saw her.

She didn't want Caleb to see her- she didn't want to acknowledge the fact that they were in the same establishment.

The green-eyed woman kept looking down at the table, trying to hide her face behind her blonde curls. A couple more seconds passed, then she felt someone stand in front of her table. Her hands trembled, anxiety soaring through her whole body.

 _Had Caleb seen her?_ She knew he would approach her if he did; he knew how awkward things were between one another, but he still moved to greet her every time they accidentally saw each other somewhere. She didn't know if it was because he was polite, or because part of him still wanted to be around her, but sometimes she wished he would simply ignore her.

"Is today laundry day again?" Teased a familiar voice.

And just like that, her anxiety melted away.

" _Loki_ ," She sounded relieved, something that he noticed.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Expecting someone else?"

Panic seized her whole being, because she most definitely did not want to encounter her ex-boyfriend face to face, and she worried Loki had noticed the reaction she had after seeing Caleb.

"No, no," She chuckled a little, fidgeting nervously. "I'm just surprised to see you again." She forced herself to act normal, to ignore the nagging fear of Caleb seeing her there. She tilted her head to the side and said, "I'm starting to believe you're following me."

Loki laughed thoroughly, though there was something on his eyes that she could not quite recognize; as though her words were amusing to him for a secret reason that she had yet to discover.

He copied her actions from the night before, moving to sit on the chair across from her. Once he was comfortable there, he eyed her cup and then moved his eyes to her face. "I know your secret."

Lily heart stopped for a moment, concerned with the thought of the janitor discovering she was a hunter, or even worse, that she was hiding from her ex-boyfriend like a coward teenager with a broken heart.

"Pray tell, what secret did you discover?" There was a certain edge of sarcasm on her voice, one that reminded the man in front of her about her older brother. It seemed that sarcasm was something that ran on the Winchester's blood.

His eyes twinkled when he said: "You're not a real nun," with a hushed tone that was meant to imply he was sharing a secret with her.

She laughed. That was the least of her worries; anyone with a brain could realize she was not a nun. For once, she had stopped wearing her costume, and second, she had bluntly implied that she wanted to fuck him the night before; an implication that he obviously understood because he had followed her flirting with one of his own.

"What makes you say that?" Lily tried to look innocent, though she was sure her amusement betrayed her.

She looked gorgeous in that moment, the blond man had to admit. She was so full of life, so _human_. He found himself mesmerized by her imperfect beauty, with how sincere her amused smile was, with how much _life_ and _fire_ her eyes portrayed, with the way that her cheeks would turn red when he gave her one of his infamous smirks, with the way she always smiled at him when she saw him, as though seeing him brightened her day.

She was so human, so _pure_ in her own way.

He hated himself for his thoughts, because part of him knew that he wasn't meant to interfere in her life, but as soon as she had appeared there in campus, his resolve had died away.

There was no way he could resist himself from talking to her, from hearing first-hand what she thought about the case, what she thought about her brothers, and what she thought about the world in general.

He felt drawn to her, and hated the fact that, as soon as she discovered who he really was, she would stop looking at him like that- like she _liked_ having him around. When she discovered who he was and what he wanted for her brothers, he was sure she would despise him.

And he wasn't supposed to worry about that- he wasn't supposed to care about a mortal woman hating him.

But he had always found humans to be incredible creatures; he had been one of the few of his kind that respected humans and saw them for all they were.

Loki forced himself to push his thoughts away and laugh with her. "Don't tell me it's laundry day again?"

The blonde woman offered him a careless shrug, amusement dancing on the edge of her smile. "We have a lot of clothes that need to be washed."

He laughed, his eyes accidentally trailing over her neck. His amusement died away abruptly as his eyes scanned the necklace she was wearing; the emotion being replaced by complete surprise.

Startled by his reaction, she found herself placing her fingertips over the pendant she wore, watching as his eyes stayed glued to it.

"Gabriel."

Loki's eyes shot to her own, an emotion vividly present on his features- was that precaution? -, though she couldn't understand his reaction.

"Excuse me?"

Lily blinked at him. "The pendant- it's the archangel Gabriel."

His posture had been a little tense, but as soon as she said that, he relaxed slightly. The young woman tried to understand the emotion she saw portrayed on his face, but she couldn't; it made no sense when she thought about it, but he looked almost overwhelmed.

Loki's voice was soft when he said: "He's your angel." And the way he looked made it obvious that he knew what he was talking about.

Lily nodded once more. "I studied in a catholic school for a little while, and, according to the date I was born, my guardian angel is none other than the famous archangel Gabriel."

Loki tilted his head to the side, his amber eyes never leaving the necklace. "I never took you for a believer." Lily gave him a confused look, for which he shook his head and tried to say something else: "There's one thing to believe, but a very different one to wear a necklace on his honor."

"It's not about his honor," Lily frowned.

It felt strange to talk about an angel that way, as if he existed. It's not that she didn't _believe_ in God- it was that she had no proper thoughts about it. She wouldn't deny his existence, but she wasn't going to go around proclaiming that He was real either.

Religions had never been a topic of interest for her.

It surprised her that someone like Loki, who had, in the short amount of time they'd known each other, never seemed the religious type, would talk about honoring angels.

Loki leaned back against his chair, and only then she noticed how close they had been to each other while talking and scowled. "Then what is it about?"

Lily hesitated for a moment, seeking the right words to explain the situation. "My brother gave me this necklace when we were kids."

She remembered the sad look that little Sammy had on his face when he realized that it was his sister's birthday and that he had nothing to give her, and then that same day, out of nowhere, that necklace had appeared on their motel room, under his pillow. He had immediately given it to her as a gift, and though the blonde girl had been confused as to where it had come from, she had loved it immensely, and had never stopped wearing it.

Loki looked as though he could understand perfectly well what she was talking about. It made her wonder about his life, about his family. _Did he have siblings too?_

"Did you know it was your guardian?"

Lily shook her head. "I didn't even know the image on the necklace was one of an angel," At his incredulous look she chuckled again, a little embarrassed. "My family is not really religious. I was surprised when, back when I studied in that catholic school, they told me that my favorite necklace bore the image of my guardian angel."

Loki was smiling, but it was a different smile to the ones she had seen on him before; there was a certain edge of fondness barely hidden there.

"What a coincidence, huh?" It sounded like a private joke she couldn't understand yet.

The thought of being able to understand it on the future left a warm feeling all over her chest- she didn't have many friends. It felt nice to have time to talk to someone and just instantly click.

She found herself smiling at him again and saying: "A great coincidence."

There was a small pause between them, one in which he passed his eyes through the different names carved into the table, and she looked around in concern, worried that the person she didn't want to see was still there somewhere, or that since he had come with Loki, he would approach them.

"What brings you here?" Loki's question brought her out of her concerns.

She shrugged a little. "It's a nice place-" But she stopped herself when he gave her an eyebrow raise, looking like he didn't believe her for one second, and she had to smile a little to herself.

She was never much of a good liar when it came to herself; she could lie about many, many things, but never about personal matters.

Lily didn't either want to open up to a stranger, but he seemed like a man she could trust- he'd been nothing but nice to her-, and the words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself: "I needed to be alone for a while."

"Trouble in paradise?"

"No, no. I'm not in that kind of relationship with anyone-"

"Because as a nun you're supposed to stay away from men and their foul intentions," Loki teased, smirking at her slip-up.

Lily couldn't help the laugh that escaped her throat. "Yes, exactly." The green-eyed woman couldn't believe how many mistakes she had made when talking to him- _how could she keep forgetting her cover?_ Part of her knew the reason- his amber eyes had a way of making her thoughts scramble away like falling dominoes- but she didn't want to acknowledge it.

"The fathers are giving you trouble?" Loki teased once more. "Or maybe the fellow nuns? Or the common folk?"

"More like the _brothers_."

Loki's teasing air disappeared, and he watched carefully as she continued talking, giving her all his attention.

"Just recently I reunited with my brothers again after a few years of not being together, and it was going well, but all they do is fight-" Lily took a deep breath, looking annoyed, though she seemed to be speaking more to herself than to him, her eyes glued to the cup that she still held on her hands. "I don't like to see them like that, it's exasperating."

"Some siblings are like that," Loki said quietly. "It doesn't matter what happens, they always find a way to fight with each another."

Knowing he was right, the young woman sighed and allowed herself to meet his gaze. "It breaks my heart."

Loki looked like he knew what she meant.

The was a small pause.

Lily took a small sip of her hot chocolate, grimacing when it burnt her throat in several places as it went down. She'd been looking down at the table again, a comfortable silence covering them, but she looked up when she heard him start to speak again.

"I have siblings too," Loki confided in her, a humorless chuckle leaving his throat. "We have more in common than you might think, sugar." It was an endearment that he used with females when being sarcastic, but he sounded nothing but sincere as he talked about himself with her. "My brothers are assholes that only think about themselves, assholes that spend their whole lives bickering like an old married couple, and don't think about the consequences of their fights."

Lily nodded at his words, knowing how it felt. "I just wish they could stop."

"I don't care who wins," Loki continued, not thinking much about the fact that he was revealing personal things to the one person he was not supposed to approach in his whole life. The problem was that she was also the _one_ person in the entire world that could understand him when it came to the matter of their families. "I don't care who is right and who is wrong-"

"-I just want it to be over." They said at the same time, to then look at each other in surprise.

The moment was short lived, because the blonde woman felt a shiver going down her spine, and the familiar feeling of being watched overcame her, clouding any thoughts she could've had about her recent conversation with the janitor.

She forced herself not to look back- it was better not to acknowledge things like that, that was something she had learnt the hard way; the first step had to be done cautiously. She was accompanied in that cafeteria, the least she wanted was to endanger Loki, or any other innocent human there.

But when she looked at Loki, she realized he was looking over her shoulder, a serious look upon his face.

She was about to speak when she realized something. He was staring at the place where she felt the presence coming from, and with a start, she realized that it was not watching _her_ , it was watching _them_.

Lily started to turn as the feeling of paranoia grew stronger each passing moment that the creature stared at her back, but stopped when Loki snapped his face towards her, and with a serious expression, moved his head side to side, the message clear on his actions: _don't_.

"Loki," Lily started to say. _I know what I'm doing._

"You need to leave," Loki said suddenly, a seriousness on his voice unlike ever before. He noticed how startled it had left her, and then forced another charismatic grin into his face, trying to reassure her, and said: "I mean, I came here with some work buddies for our lunch break, and something tells me you wouldn't want to be around when they come looking for me, mm?"

Just like that, she forgot all about the presence she felt watching her.

Another shot of adrenaline coursed through her body, though this time it had nothing to do with the supernatural world; this time she worried about encountering her ex-boyfriend.

She nodded and started to stand up, watching as the janitor stood from the table too, forcing another smile into his face, but seemingly unable to stop glancing towards where the presence had come from.

Lily opened her mouth to tell him to _stop_ doing that- she needed to deal with whatever creature was stalking her before it hurt any innocents around- when he seemed to know what she was going to say and stopped her before she could.

One of his hands made way into one of her shoulders, the touch being so soft it was barely there at all. Their eyes met, green and amber meeting and getting lost at the same time, the place seemingly disappearing from their surroundings until it felt as though they were the only ones in that place.

Lily gasped softly, startled by how still and quiet everything seemed.

She could still hear the low echo of the conversations around them, and she could still see things moving, but it all felt in slow motion. The only thing that moved at normal speed and that didn't have the sense of illusion over it was the man in front of her.

"Don't," Loki told her seriously. His voice seemed to bring her out of her stupor, but he was still the only thing that felt real, the rest still felt blurry. "You have to trust me on this, all right Lily?"

"You don't understand-" The young hunter protested, scowling, for she couldn't see how anyone could look so calm after perceiving that awful energy that the creature stalking her emanated. If anything, he looked almost annoyed and disgusted, but not fearful.

She was worried, a little fearful too, if she dared to admit it. And she was a _hunter_ , she had grown up dealing with monsters of every kind, and yet that one presence felt powerful and dangerous enough to _scare_ her.

 _How come Loki was not even remotely shaken by it?_

"I do understand," Loki interrupted her, this time more firmly. "I'm not trying to imply you can't deal with this thing on your own, because I know that you are more than capable of doing so. I'm just asking you to leave this to me, because I know what I'll be dealing with- you don't."

She felt dizzy in that moment; nothing made sense. "Is that the thing that's been causing damage around campus?" She was aware that the janitor knew more than he claimed, for he had been around when those strange things and strange deaths started happening, but if he knew what kind of creature it was, he needed to tell her so she- and her brothers- could take care of it.

"No," Loki said, disgust visible on his features. "It's something much worse."

"What? So, there are two creatures-?"

"No," Loki stressed, annoyed. "This thing outside wants something that I _won't_ allow him to get. The thing causing mayhem around campus is only messing around."

"Messing around-" Lily scowled, suddenly feeling annoyed by his evasion to her question. "Jesus Christ, Loki, the thing around campus has killed people."

"People that deserved it," Loki shot back at her, heatedly. "Have you forgotten Mr. Morality? He was a pedophile. And the stupid frat boy that was abducted, he tormented his classmates-"

"Are you defending the monster?" Lily gaped at him, not believing what her ears were hearing.

Loki sighed and rolled his eyes, seemingly having lost his patience at that very moment.

"You _need_ to trust me, Lily."

"How can you ask me that?" She gave him an incredulous look. "You know more than you're willing to say because I used the word _monster_ and you clearly know about the supernatural world since you didn't even bat an eyelash at my words; and you're defending a killer, and then there's this thing outside and you know what it wants and you won't let me do my work-"

Loki stopped her angered words with one single word. " _Please_."

She didn't know him at all, and he certainly didn't know her either, but in that moment, when everything around them still felt distant and all she could focus on was him, in front of her, asking her to trust him, his eyes holding no hidden motive behind his request, her cautiousness and all she had been taught flew out of the window.

Her father had told her that she trusted people too easily.

"Okay," She found herself saying, pursing her lips in annoyance. "Okay, I trust you."

...and John Winchester couldn't have been more right about that.

A relieved look crossed Loki's face. "Thank you."

"But if things get out of hand-"

"The first thing I'll do will be to tell you," Amusement crossed Loki's eyes, as though for some reason the thought of him needing her help was hilarious.

It annoyed her greatly, but also intrigued her- _just how much did he know about the supernatural world? Why did he think he could deal with the thing outside?_

She was brought out of her thoughts by his voice saying: "Wouldn't trust any other hunter to deal with the situation at hand."

Lily closed her eyes for a second, then scoffed. "I knew you knew what I was."

Loki snorted. "Please, did you really think I believed for one second that you were an actual nun?"

She felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment, something that only seemed to amuse him further. "Are _you_ a hunter?"

He only laughed as a response.

...

"-and if you two bothered to pull your heads outta your asses, it all would have been pretty clear."

Confused as though what their old friend was talking about, the oldest Winchester was quick to ask a: "What?"

"What you're dealing with," Bobby stressed, as though it was supposed to be obvious. He waited for the brothers to make their own conclusions, but they continued looking as lost as ever. When they shrugged and admitted they didn't know, he continued: "You got a trickster on your hands."

Dean snapped his fingers. "That's what I thought."

Sam gave him an incredulous look. "No, you didn't-"

Bobby interrupted him before they could start bickering again, "I got to tell you, you guys were the biggest clue. These things create chaos and mischief as easy as breathing. And it's got you so turned around and at each other's throats, you can't even think straight."

It started to make more sense, if what Bobby said was true, they could see how exactly the monster had tricked them.

"The laptop."

"The tires."

"Your _sister_ ," Bobby scowled at them. He couldn't hide his annoyance at the realization that the trickster had used their bickering as a way of making the other hunter separate from them. "It knows you're onto him and it's been playing you like fiddles."

Sam swallowed down a mouthful of guilt, concerned once he realized they'd been so immerse on the tale that he'd forgotten about Lily. His stomach filled with concern- _what if the trickster had captured her already?_

Dean looked down at the floor, unable to meet Bobby's eyes. "Lily must be on her way here by now; she must've cooled off already." But just in case, he found himself taking his phone out and sending her a quick text, needing to make sure she was safe.

"That, if the trickster doesn't have her by now." Bobby didn't like the thought, but it was a possibility, and most of all, he wanted to make them realize how dumb their actions had been. They'd pushed her away once again, and at the worst of times, when the trickster _knew_ that _they_ were hunting him down.

Dean shook his head, not wanting to think about his sister being in any kind of danger. "So, what is it? Spirit, demon, what?"

"More like demigods, really. They're immortal, and they can create things out of thin air. Things as real as you and me."

Everything started falling into pieces by then. "You mean, like an angry spirit or an alien or an alligator."

Dean looked down when he felt his phone vibrate, a new text-message arriving. It was from Lily, and reading it made him sigh in relief. **I'm almost there, had lunch in a cafeteria with the janitor from Crawford Hall.**

"What?" Sam questioned, trying to read over Dean's shoulder, only to be pushed away by his older brother.

"Don't be nosey," He barked at him. "It's Lily, she's on her way."

Sam and Bobby looked relieved after knowing that.

Dean typed back a quick response. **Hurry. Bobby knows what's going on.**

Bobby continued talking over the sounds of the older Winchester typing into his phone. "The victims fit the MO, too. Tricksters target the high and the mighty, knock 'em down a peg, usually with a sense of humor. Deadly pranks, things like that."

Dean thought hard for a moment, then pursed his lips as a new thought entered his mind. "Bobby, what do these things look like?"

The older man shrugged as he thought about it. "Lots of things, but human, mostly."

The blond man felt a wave of annoyance course through his body. There was only _one_ human that had been present in every crime science they investigated, one that seemed to have taken a liking to their sister. He seemed normal enough, charismatic and amusing even, but Dean had learnt the hard way that he couldn't trust anyone.

He stole a glance at the last text message his sister had sent him, and turned towards his younger brother, who raised his eyebrows in his direction.

"Sammy, what human do we know who's been at ground zero this whole time?"

Sam shrugged at first, no one coming to mind at that question. He thought about it for a moment, then as he started to realize who had been at every scene, amusement and incredulity crossed his face. "No fucking way."

In that moment, the sound of a knock upon the door brought them out of their conversation, and the three of them stared at the door. Sam rose from the chair to open the door, but since Bobby was closer, the older man approached the door first and opened it, smiling when he recognized the blonde woman entering through the door.

"Bobby," Lily grinned happily and enveloped him into a gentle hug. "It's so good to see you, thank you for coming."

"Thought you were gone by now," Bobby barked at her, raising one eyebrow. "I was told you three idiots were together again, but I come here and it's only those two morons-" he ignored the boys' sounds of protest and gave her an amused look. "You have no idea how tedious their recounting of everything was."

"Don't tell me," Lily gave her brothers an amused smile as she moved towards the table where they both sat at, leaving the bags she carried over the table and motioning Dean to check what was inside them. "Dean claimed Sammy was too sensible, and Sammy claimed Dean was an animal."

Bobby snorted. "You know it."

Lily sighed. "Been there, done that."

Dean moaned happily as soon as he found what he was looking for in those bags. "You brought me pie!" He laughed happily, "Aw yes, I knew you were my favorite sister for a reason." And just like that, he leaned back against his chair and opened the lid of the pie, taking a spoon out of the bag and starting to eat.

Sam gave him a disgusted look, unable to stop himself. "Can you please focus on the case-"

"I brought you cake," Lily interrupted him with a smile as she moved another chair to sit with them at the table, taking another spoon and stealing bits of Dean's pie to his displeasure.

Sam pursed his lips, having an internal debate about continuing talking about the case- they needed to tell her what they'd discovered- or enjoying a piece of cake.

Judging by the knowing look his sister directed at him, he could easily guess that she had gotten him his favorite flavor of cake, and before he could make his mind about the matter, he found himself taking a spoon and rummaging through the bags to look for it.

"Atta boy," Lily ruffled his hair, mouth full of pie. "Knew you'd like it."

Bobby watched them for a moment, annoyed at their lack of concentration on the case. He had meant to chastise them for it, but once he realized that the three of them were sharing a moment with one another, he found himself unable to speak a word about it.

It had been _years_ since he had seen the three of them in the same place, together. Like the family that _they_ were, because their father had never been around to share those moments with them- it had always been only the three of them: Dean, Lily, and Sam.

And Bobby found himself smiling softly at the scene.

If he closed his eyes, he could almost picture the exact last time they'd been like that- the three of them had been mere children, and they'd been dropped at his place for a week while their father worked on a case. The girl had taken it upon herself to buy them food, even when Bobby had claimed that he could get them food on his own, that she didn't have to worry about it. But she was too stubborn, even as a child. She hadn't wanted Bobby to think them a burden and had attempted to make their stay there as easy-going as possible, helping him with chores and all the things a child was _not_ supposed to be concerned with.

Bobby found himself smiling softly at the scene unfolding in front of him. Lily laughed when Dean dodged her attempts to eat more mouthfuls of his pie, and Sam laughed at them both as he ate his own slice of cake.

 _Some things never change._

Lily caught Bobby's eye and smiled sweetly at him. "Don't think I forgot about you, Bobby. There's something on the bag for you, too."

"I came here to hunt, not to eat," Bobby protested grumpily, but still moved to the table to join them, doing his best not to show how seeing them together again made him happy. He knew them enough to know that they would feel uncomfortable with the reminder that it was the first time in years that the four of them were together like that.

The blonde woman swallowed a mouthful of dessert and glanced at her brothers. "So, about the case..." She waited for them to elaborate. "Your text made it clear that we now know what creature is hunting campus, so spill it out. What are we dealing with? A demon, a spirit?"

"A trickster," Bobby answered for the boys, noticing how they had shared a look as soon as she spoke about the case. Judging by their reactions, the old man knew that their sister wouldn't agree with them when it came to who the suspect was.

"The fuck is that?"

The boys stopped eating, and that was the first clue that Lily had about the seriousness of the situation.

She swallowed the last bite she'd taken of the pie and moved the spoon away from her. She positioned herself so that she was still in the middle of them, but in a way that she was able to see the three of them and not just one.

"A demigod," Bobby explained shortly the same stuff he had explained to the brothers and waited for her to make a conclusion.

She opened her mouth to say something, but her older brother beat her to it.

"And who do we know that's been on ground zero this whole time?" Dean asked her the same thing that he'd asked Sam before, but with her, he waited patiently for the protest that was going to come out of her mouth.

She didn't disappoint him. "You can't be seriously thinking that Loki-"

The three of them stiffened almost at the same time, something that startled her.

"How do you even know his name?" Sam accused her.

She opened and closed her mouth for a moment, confused by the question. "Um, I'm polite? I like to know the name of the people I talk to?"

"Great," Sam said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he sighed exasperatedly. "You're familiar with the monster now."

She had to bite down the response she had in mind for that accusation. _What about Amy Pond, brother?_

Dean rolled his eyes too, but approached the subject more tactfully than his younger brother, sensing that there had to be another reason for her not to believe the janitor was their trickster. \

"You fucked him, didn't you?"

Lily's face flushed a dark red, her eyes widening. " _What_ -"

"Because if you did, that's _fine_ ," Dean continued, though a disgusted look made way into his face. "We've all made mistakes. You didn't know he was a monster, we won't hold it against you. But you need to see through the facts- he _is_ our monster."

Lily stared at them.

For her, it made no sense.

She had encountered thousands of monsters through her life, and while several of them tried to disguise themselves as normal humans, none of them had attempted to form a conversation with her. And Loki had, several times through the days, formed one with her.

Part of her could see their point, because it was a little suspicious that he was somehow involved in every crime scene, and he had, after all, been the one that told her of the other strange things happening around campus through the years.

And now that she came to think about it, he had defended the trickster earlier that day, claiming that those that were murdered and tormented had had it coming.

But he had also flirted with her.

He had also been _nice_ to her.

And he had looked sincerely worried when she mentioned she felt something following her- _had he been faking his concern?_

They had talked about their personal lives, about their relationship with their siblings, and for once, there had been _someone_ that seemed to understand the constant struggle that she felt when she saw her brothers fighting- there was someone out there that seemed to understand the pain that came with being in the middle of them all the time.

She couldn't accept the fact that it was all probably a lie.

She couldn't- _wouldn't_ \- find it on herself to admit that someone had fooled her again.

If what they claimed was true, the janitor had used her for his own selfish purposes, which meant that, once again, a man had taken advantage of her ingenuity.

It made her chest tighten in pain, even when she had only attempted to form a friendship with the handsome man and no more. It was still a disappointment, it still made her feel like a sentimental fool.

 _"I need you to trust me,"_ Loki had begged her back at the cafeteria, his eyes meeting her own. " _Please."_

Lily swallowed hard and looked away, moving so she was facing away from her brothers. "All right," She said at last, hesitating as she did so.

Sam and Dean shared a look.

Bobby simply watched them, knowing it was not his place to get involved in that.

A new thought made way into Lily's mind, and she turned so she was facing them again, the fierceness of her stare taking them by surprise.

"Lily?" Dean questioned.

She raised a defiant eyebrow towards them. "I'm not going to condemn an innocent man just because you two think he's our man. Without real proof that he's the trickster, don't expect me to act."

Sam nodded slowly. "It's reasonable-"

Dean cut him off. "We'll find the proof we need, and you'll see- that janitor _is_ our trickster."

Lily simply looked away again. "Loki's innocent until proven guilty."


	4. A wolf in sheep's clothing

**Disclaimer _:_** _Supernatural doesn't belong to me, only the plot, and some characters (such as Lily) belongs to me._

 _English is not my native language, so I apologize in advantage for any mistake I might have._

* * *

…

 **Chapter 4**

…

* * *

 _The lights were flickering as she passed through the hallway, heartbeat growing erratic as she tried to outrun the flickering of the lights and reach the part of the house_ _that was still illuminated, being easily frightened of the dark, imagining, as any child of her age does, that a monster waited for her in the shadows._

 _"Mommy?" The small child called out, messy blonde curls bouncing as she walked as fast as her little legs allowed her to. Desperation started to get the best of her and she started to cry, "Mommy?"_

 _As she reached the end of the hallway, she caught a glimpse of a tall figure she recognized observing one of the light-bulbs on the wall to his left, moving to carefully tap at the flickering bulb until it returned back to normal._

 _The child sniffled and ran to the figure of her father, crying out a: "Daddy!", and jumping on his arms as tears continued to fall from her green eyes and she held into him as though her whole life depended on it._

 _Her father was taken off guard, because he had tugged her into bed an hour before, but was quick to pull her up and held her against himself, concern crossing his features once he realized she was crying._

 _"Oh, baby, what's wrong?" He asked in concern, observing her to see if it was that she'd accidentally hurt herself, but she had no visible wounds, the only thing out of place was the tears running down her cheeks. She was always a happy child, dancing at all times and giggling when her older brother tried to copy her moves; everyone hated to see her cry._

 _"Daddy, there's someone in the house."_

 _His blood went cold, startled by those words. Out of everything he would've imagined her to say, he never fathomed hearing something of the such. But then, he realized what was happening, and a soft, amused smile appeared on his face. His daughter was growing up and reaching the stage where she was scared of the monsters under her bed or inside her closet. Her older brother was just in that stage, so the father considered himself almost an expert consoling his children._

 _"No, baby," He said gently. "There's no one else here. It's only a bad dream."_

 _She shook her head, looking nervous and scared as she held tighter into his embrace. "No, daddy. When mommy went to give me a goodnight kiss, there was a man watching her in the shadows. Mommy didn't see him. It followed mommy out of the room and then disappeared."_

 _The young man shook his head, gently moving a hand over her cheeks to clean the remaining tears away. "You were already asleep when mommy went to give you a kiss, baby. Remember? We were watching cartoons with your brother downstairs and you fell asleep, so I carried you to your room."_

 _But the small child was stubbornly convinced of what she had seen. "No, daddy, the yellow-eyed man woke me up and followed mommy-"_

 _Her father chuckled at her stubbornness, thinking that she had inherited it from her mother. He interrupted her by saying, once more: "It was just a dream, sweetheart. There are no yellow-eyed men in the house. There's no one else but us here."_

 _"Are you-" The small child sniffled, "Are you sure?"_

 _Her father was everything to her, she was a daddy's girl through and through, and the fact that he was convinced about it having been a nightmare made her feel more at peace, though she had been certain it was not a nightmare._

 _"C'mon, sweetheart, let's find mommy and get you back to bed, okay?" He put her into the floor and held out his hand for her to take as they walked together._

 _A scream cut through the air just as they reached the hallway where the baby's nursery was._

 _Her father called out an alarmed name- the name of her mother- and started running towards where the scream had come from, pulling his daughter with him._

 _"Stay behind me," He instructed the child, imagining the worse._ What if his daughter had been right and there was someone in the house? _His wife wasn't one to scream- she even killed the spiders around the house without any hesitation at all._

 _Now inside of the baby's nursery, the room was illuminated, and it appeased the child's nerves a little, but she couldn't ignore the fear that hearing her mother's scream provoked in her._

 _The father approached with relief, finding his son safe. "Hey buddy, you okay?"_

 _The child leaned forwards on her tip-toes to look at her younger brother, who was still awake and happily cooing at the toys dancing in the baseball's themed mobile over his head._

 _"Where's mommy?" She looked away from her brother and around the room as she moved to grip her father's elbow, frightened by the scream they'd heard._

 _The father's relief was short lived. As he leaned over the baby's crib, a few drops of an alarming red color fell into the pillow, and when he moved a hand to touch whatever the substance was, two more drops fell into his hand, and it was then that he was able to recognize that it was_ blood _._

 _Scowling, he turned and looked at the ceiling from where the blood was coming, just as his daughter produced a heart-shattering scream, ("_ Mommy _!"), having seen before her father the image of a young woman glued to the ceiling, blood coming from an invisible wound on her stomach, fire slowly engulfing her as she struggled to breathe._

 _"No!" The father screamed, falling backward into the floor in shock of what he was seeing, not understanding a single thing about the situation, but overwhelmed with pain at seeing his wife in that way. "No!"_

 _The fire that engulfed the blonde woman started to reach the whole ceiling, going down the walls, until the heat became strong enough to make the three alive figures in the room recoil from it._

 _The baby and his older sister started crying harder, scared and traumatized all at once, and it was then that their father managed to shake himself out of his shock in time to grab the baby and push the two-year old girl out of the room._

 _They stopped in the hallway, where the four-year old son of the couple met them, startled at the fire that he could see coming out of his brother's nursery._

 _The older man wasted no time. He pushed the girl towards her older brother, and then carefully deposited the baby into his small arms. He met their startled gazes, swallowing a turmoil of emotions that came his way when he realized his baby-girl had seen her mother on the ceiling. That his wife was glued to the ceiling for some inexplicable reason, and that their whole house (including his wife, their mother) was being consumed by the mysterious fire._

 _"Take your brother and sister outside as fast as you can and don't look back!" He instructed the older sibling, who remained frozen on his spot at the harsh tone of voice his father had used with him. "Now, Dean! Go!"_

 _The blond boy took on a run, holding between his arms his younger brother, and looking over his shoulder every five seconds to make sure his sister was following them. She was slower than he was, but the three of them managed to get outside of the house faster than they ever had before._

 _They stopped in front of the house, watching the window of the baby's nursery, from where the fire came from._

 _The baby on his arms started to make soft wailing noises, to which he carefully left a kiss on his forehead. "It's okay, Sammy. It's gonna be okay. We're here." He looked up to meet his sister's gaze. "Are you hurt, Lily?"_

 _She shook her head, still crying, "_ Mommy _," which was the only thing she could bring herself to say, remembering over and over again the scene she had seen but couldn't understand completely due to her young age. She couldn't stop crying because she thought her mother was hurt, because her mother didn't move an inch when she called out her name, because their father was still inside the house._

 _"It's okay," Dean drew her into a hug, carefully making sure that Sam remained between them unharmed and uncrushed. He was concerned about their mother too, but hoped that their father's delay meant he was helping her out of the house. "We're gonna be okay."_

 _Their father came running from inside the house in that moment, and grabbed them into his strong arms, hurrying them away from the house, to the other side of the street, in time for their house to completely explode in flames._

 _The neighbors started coming out of their houses calling out for them, others hurriedly calling the fire-department while they motioned for the four Winchesters to approach their end of the street and to get further away from the burning house._

 _When the oldest kid innocently asked where their mother was, worried with the fact that she hadn't come out of the house and the fire seemed to have surrounded it whole, John Winchester couldn't bring himself to answer, and both oldest kids were able to comprehend, even though their innocence and young age, what it meant._

* * *

 _..._

For the four hunters, the following morning started in an unconventional way. The news of the most recent attack on campus reached their ears as soon as they went out to get lunch, an event that made them realize they needed to act before the number of victims increased.

Bobby wasted no time and, right after having a quick lunch, went directly to the morgue.

Tricksters could only be killed with a stake to the heart, but it had to be bathed in the victim's blood, which meant that the old hunter had to steal whatever remains of their blood he could find.

Meanwhile, the Winchester siblings drove towards Crawford Hall.

The blonde woman remained quiet through the whole trip, feeling shaken by the nightmare she had of her mother, a memory she had been almost convinced she had successfully pushed from her mind. Sam noticed, but thought it better not to question what was on her mind. Dean, on the other hand, was too concentrated on their plans to notice how unusually quiet his sister was.

The plan they'd created was simple enough, Lily was meant to distract the janitor while Sam and Dean revised his locker to search for something that could incriminate him further, but, as was to be expected, things didn't go as planned.

Loki wasn't nowhere in sight when they arrived in campus, and when they asked for him at the janitor's lockers, one of his co-workers told them it was his free day.

The three hunters stayed behind for a couple of minutes, hoping to be able to break into his locker, but the room was full of other janitors, and no matter how much they waited for them to go do their respective jobs around campus, none of them made any attempt to leave.

"One would think janitors would actually do their job," Dean muttered angrily as they walked back towards the parking lot. "I swear last time we were here, there was not a single one of them in the lockers."

"Maybe he did it on purpose," Sam suggested, shooting an amused look at his older brother when his words made their sister roll her eyes. "He must've known we were coming and made sure not to be here, and left the lockers protected, too."

"Janitors have free days," Lily shot them a stern look, annoyance crossing her features. As usual, the green-eyed woman had a headache that affected her mood- all due to lack of sleep. "Just like every other worker does. This is just a coincidence."

"I thought you said you didn't believe in coincidences." Dean crossed his arms over his chest.

Lily chose to ignore his words, having no idea how to defend herself.

It was true that she didn't believe in coincidences, she liked to think that there was a reason for everything to happen.

It was one of the many beliefs that distanced her from her father, who couldn't fathom the thought of bad things having a reason to happen other than the world being a fucked-up place. In his point of view, there had been no reason for his wife to die; she had done nothing wrong, she had been the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect human being, and she did not deserve to die the way she did. He resented his daughter for even implying that events as horrible as that one had a reason to happen.

"And I thought we had agreed that he's innocent until proven guilty," She shot back at them, turning her head to the side for a brief moment, noticing how her brothers shared a look.

"We're _trying_ to prove he's our man," Dean pointed out, moving a hand to his pocket to collect the keys to his car. "It hasn't exactly been easy."

"We're not saying it's all an elaborate plan from his part," Sam said, though he was starting to believe that it was. "We just find it curious how he was always around at first, but now that we suspect him, he's nowhere to be seen."

"You have to admit," Dean nodded in agreement of his brother, looking down at his sister. "It is kind of strange."

They stopped in front of the Impala, the three of them wondering if there was something else they could do before heading back to the motel.

That day had felt like one big waste of time, because they weren't able to do the investigation they'd intended to, and they were running out of time.

Every passing day without hunting their monster meant danger for other humans around campus. It had been a while since they had encountered a case with so many complications, and it made them feel helpless every time a new victim was announced.

"I know it's strange," She wasn't as blind as her brothers thought her to be, she could see that there was a valid reason to suspect Loki. "I just don't want to end up staking the wrong man."

"Let's just head back to the motel," Sam sighed, exasperated with how uneventful that day had started.

Lily was already opening the passenger's door to the Impala when she nodded at his words, saying: "Maybe Bobby had more luck than us," while knowing that he must've had some complications at the morgue.

Most of the Trickster's victims were dead, which meant that all their blood had coagulated. They couldn't soak their stakes in that, it would have no effect at all. She imagined the old hunter must've gone straight from the morgue to look for the only victim alive- the abducted frat kid.

After the experience Curtis narrated, Lily doubted he would be willing to give some of his blood to anyone, much less trust a stranger enough to hear whatever excuse Bobby managed to come up with.

"Actually..." Dean hesitated, then continued, "I have an idea." When he saw that his siblings had focused their attention on him, he then directed his words to the blonde woman. "But you won't like it." He waited for a couple of seconds before expressing what was on his mind. "We need to revise his locker today, we don't have more time to waste, there are new victims every single day. And, it's because of our urgency, that I thought about asking Caleb to open the locker for us-"

"No," Lily interrupted him, mouth dry. "Absolutely fucking not."

Sam shared a look with his brother over their sister's head. The tall man hadn't thought about that idea before, but as soon as he heard it, he knew it was what they needed to do.

"Lily," He started, "Think it through, it's a good idea. Caleb is also a janitor, it wouldn't be strange for other janitors to see him in the lockers, and he can open Loki's locker for us without it being an issue. Besides, the sooner we find proof that incriminates him, the faster we'll be out of here, and you won't have to see your ex again in a long time."

"Everyone will be happy," Dean concluded, nodding as he thought about it. "We'll be killing two birds with one stone. We'll find the proof you want, then we kill the Trickster, and students around campus will be safe."

Sam had a soft smile on his face as he watched his siblings with twinkling eyes, having an idea. "We could have dinner together, just the three of us, once this is over. What's the name of the place in Utah that we used to go together? Uh, the one where we fought a poltergeist-"

Lily shook her head, having a faint reminder of the place his brother was mentioning. It was a nice place, one of their favorite restaurants in the whole state, and at first it sounded like an amazing idea, but she realized soon after that it was an attempt to convince her, and she refused to accept.

They couldn't understand how she felt, how painful and frightening it was to see her ex-fiancé again.

It was something she didn't want to deal with. She had nothing against him, but seeing him brought back a lot of memories that she didn't want to remember.

It was better if they were as apart from each other as they could be.

"No," She repeated firmly, interrupting Sam's plans with Dean. At the tone of voice she used, both brothers turned to look at her, eyebrows raised. "If you two want to involve Caleb, be my guest. But I won't be a part of it."

"It's just for a moment," Sam tried to convince her, not noticing how nervous she had gotten after their brother mentioned what his idea involved. "It's not like you two will be alone, we'll be by your side."

Dean relented, "If Sam and I do as you mentioned and involve Caleb for just a moment, where would you even go? Back to the motel with Bobby?"

But the blonde woman had an idea of her own. "No. I'm going to see if I can find Loki on my own. I can at least distract him with my presence, just for enough time for him not to be able to choose a new victim. That, if he's really our Trickster, which I'm not saying he _is_ or _isn't_."

Lily's hands trembled as she talked, an unconscious reflex that portrayed a great deal of anxiety in her system.

Her brothers were able to notice at last how shaken she looked, and realized that, perhaps, there was more to the story of her previous relationship that they previously thought.

Feeling guilty for having caused her such a reaction by mentioning his idea, Dean looked away and cleared his throat uncomfortably, not knowing how to behave after said realization.

"Be careful around him," Dean managed to say at last, voice sounding a little strained. "He's still our main suspect, and if he did this just because he thinks we're onto him-" He gestured to the building, referring to the fact that there were other janitors guarding the lockers. "I don't want to know what he'd do if he realizes you're trying to distract him."

"I'm not scared of him," Lily said sincerely. She couldn't feel any kind of ill emotion towards him after how he behaved the previous night, how he had attempted to protect her against the unknown creature following her.

It was a slight complication, because she needed to be alert and cautious around him in case he was actually their Trickster.

"It's not about fear, it's about your protection," Sam protested. "If something happens when you're with him, don't hesitate to call us. Don't act out on him, just wait for us to arrive, okay?"

"Dude, I'm twenty-four, and I learnt how to hunt before learning how to write. I know what I'm supposed to do."

Despite what Sam could think of Lily's response, she felt much better after his words. Her younger brother portraying his affection towards her was one of the main situations she cherished the most in her young life.

Lily's role had constantly been the same- she had raised him as a mother would, despite the fact that she had been only two years older than him. Because of that, she felt accomplished every single time that Sam showed how compassionate and caring he was, because it meant that she had done a good job- that both Dean and Lily had done a good job raising him and imparting him the manners that John never taught any of them during their broken childhood.

A small smile appeared on Lily's face, her eyes seeking Dean's similar ones over the small distance that separated the three of them. _We did well_. As though knowing what she was thinking about, the blond man nodded imperceptibly, and allowed a pleasant, though rather small, smile to cover his lips.

There were several things, however, that Dean hadn't had the time to tell Lily about.

They had been too immersed on the case, and even the brief times that they weren't, Sam had been with them, and what the oldest Winchester needed to tell his sister involved their little brother.

Lily didn't know the circumstances that drew their father to his death, she didn't know the things that were happening to her little brother at the time, she didn't know of the plan that the yellow-eyed demon had for him.

She was in the dark about many aspects of their recent lives, and it was driving him insane.

 _When the time comes_ , John had told him, moments before he died, _if you can't prevent Sam from becoming what the yellow-eyed demon wants him to, you must act. You have to protect your brother, Dean, no matter the consequences_.

But Dean had hope in his brother.

Sam was not the monster that John believed he could be if the yellow-eyed demon's influence on him grew. Dean was sure of that; his brother was _not_ going to become what his father feared. He was a lot of things (obnoxious being one of the main characteristics Dean could think of at the moment right after an argument with him) but the poor kid was not evil. The yellow-eyed demon was not going to transform him into a (figuratively speaking) monster, Dean wouldn't allow him.

 _I've never stopped protecting him_ , Dean had fought back instantly, unable not to justify himself, even as he could see it was his father's last moments. _We both have, Lily and I. Together we can protect Sam_.

 _No_ , John had widened his eyes instantly, a distinctive emotion crossing through his face, to the settle into a look of regret that his oldest son had never seen on him before. _Your sister made her choice when she turned her back on this family. It's your job alone now to protect your brother._

But at that exact moment, when his sister smiled at something that their youngest brother said, Dean thought his father's words were absolute bullshit.

He watched, lost in thoughts, how the green-eyed woman approached Sam and left a sweet kiss on his cheek, making him smile down at her in pure, unfiltered, adoration.

Dean was brought out of his thoughts when he felt his sister leave a sweet kiss on his own cheek. Despite what he had been thinking, he couldn't help but smile at the gesture, a warm feeling crossing his chest and going up to his throat, leaving an uncomfortable lump there. He hadn't noticed before, but in that moment, he was unable to deny just how much he had missed having her around.

"Please," He called out as she walked away. "Be careful."

She turned to give him one last smile, her green eyes twinkling as she did. "Always, love. Don't forget to call me as soon as you guys find something, and please don't mention me to Caleb. It's enough that he knows I'm around, he doesn't need to know more."

Sam nodded, understanding flashing through his eyes. "Don't worry, we won't."

Dean made a promise with himself to have a conversation with her as soon as their case ended.

To hell with what John had said before dying, Lily had _never_ turned her back on them. The important thing was that she was there with them again, and most of all, she deserved to know what was happening. She was their _family_ , she was their _sister_.

There were a lot of things they needed to discuss.

Before leaving, both blonds shared a small look, an imperceptible nod being passed through them.

They had been together for enough time to recognize each other's signals and, judging by how serious her brother had looked at her, she imagined there was something he wanted to discuss with her, and it was highly probable that, as usual, it involved their little brother.

...

The blonde woman walked around town without having a specific direction in mind, driven forwards with her desire to put as much distance between her ex-boyfriend and herself. It was probably stupid considering all the years that had passed, but she didn't feel ready to interact with him again, she just couldn't.

She hadn't lied when she told her brothers she was going to try and find Loki on her own, but as she strolled through the streets, she realized it had been only empty words- she wasn't doing anything to find him, she wasn't even conscious of the people around her.

Her thoughts were suffocating her, distracting her from her self-imposed task.

She just wanted to be alone for a little while.

Lily stopped to rest in a park far from Crawford Hall, finding it to be a beautiful place that didn't deserve to be ignored. She sat by the shadow of a tall tree and watched her surroundings distractedly.

Unlike most of the parks she had seen around the country on her hunting trips, that specific one was bright and colorful, with tall trees that spread through the whole place, and blooming flowers that made it look like one gigantic meadow.

There were families enjoying their day and playing with their children, there were dogs running around their owners...it was a place that she liked, but that brought her some melancholy as she watched how happy those families seemed to be.

She never had any of that on her childhood, she never had an opportunity to go to a park and just have a picnic with her brothers, not even when she was allowed to attend high-school in multiple cities.

Her father often brought her on his hunts, which didn't allow her much time to enjoy herself after school. And when they were younger, she wasn't allowed to take her brothers out of their motel room- direct orders from John, who didn't trust them to be safe in the outside world without him.

She thought about Caleb, and how much he had wanted to have a family with her.

If she closed her eyes, she could picture herself there with him, in that park, enjoying their day as their children laughed and played with one another. It had been the life he had wanted for them, the life he promised would make them happy.

But it was also the life she could never have.

Lily opened her eyes, not realizing that she had closed them, and sighed as she leaned down against the tree's trunk.

As Caleb had admitted in one of their last fights, she didn't have what a woman was supposed to have to get married- she couldn't see herself being domestic and taking care of a whole house, and he was never going to settle down for having to do the domestics of the house himself; he was keen on the absurd idea that it was a woman's job.

As for the family he wanted to form, if she was sincere with herself, she did want to have children. Perhaps one or two. But she was also aware that, given the world she had been forced into as a child, she couldn't risk to have any. They would be in constant risk because of her job, and even if she abandoned her life as a hunter to raise them, she had already made enough enemies for it to still be risky.

No matter how much she wanted it, the perfect life of those families around her in the park, laughing and being happy and safe, wasn't a life she could belong to.

Seeing Caleb hurt because it reminded her of all she couldn't have.

It hurt because she still, to some extent, loved the memories of him that she had.

Lily was smart enough to realize she deserved better- he wasn't the ideal man most of the time, he had been controlling and he had caused her more pain than joy- but she couldn't bring herself to forget about him completely. She had loved him like she had never loved anyone else before, and it had been consuming enough for her to still feel the remains of those emotions, however toxic it had been for both of them.

She didn't want to see him because she didn't want to go down that hole of toxicity once more, but it was something she couldn't tell her brothers; she didn't think they would understand.

She had been resting against the tree, watching around without really looking for something in specific, when something jumped at her. She let out a small yell of surprise, then saw an energetic little dog (a corgi) on her lap, watching her with incredible attention as it seemed to be unable to stop wiggling its tail at her.

"Hey, there," Lily laughed, holding one hand out for the puppy to smell. "Aren't you a pretty thing?"

Once the small puppy didn't give signs of being against her caressing him, she moved her hand through his soft fur, scratching behind his ears and watching with a smile how he seemed to melt under her touch.

She looked around, trying to stop the dog's owner, but those around her were immerse on their own business. The blonde woman then tried to read what the tag on his collar said, but he was too energetic for her to be able to do so. She laughed every time he lunged forward to her face and licked her cheeks, gently pushing him down, only for him to jump at her face once more.

"Yes, yes," She said softly as she tried to evade some of his kisses, and before he could attack again, she moved and planted a soft kiss upon his small head. "I like you too, buddy."

As she looked up once more, wondering where the puppy's owner would be, her eyes found a familiar figure making its way towards them.

 _Loki_.

Her heart did a double take as soon as she saw him, though she forced a smile into her face and beckoned him closer with a small wave.

When he approached them, he gave the blonde woman a friendly smile, then settled his eyes on the dog.

"There you are!" He crouched down and opened his arms to the puppy, beckoning it towards him, "C'mon, boy. Leave the pretty girl alone."

Obediently, the puppy moved out of Lily's arms and jumped at Loki's expecting arms. He smiled and scratched his head as he moved to sit by her side under the tree's shadow, allowing himself a pause from his plans enough to spend time with the green-eyed woman.

The blonde woman gave them a curious look, not having expected the sweet dog that approached her to belong to the man she was supposed to be looking for. The most curious thing was, though, that as usual, there had been no need to look for him. They constantly found themselves in the same place, as though they were meant to continue colliding with each other unexpectedly, as though they were supposed to be together.

Or perhaps, she thought to herself, it was all one elaborate plan from his part to distract her from her original task.

"I didn't know you had a dog," Lily decided to act as though everything was normal, not knowing what else to do. "He's really cute."

Amusement crossed Loki's features. He moved his head to the side to glance in her direction. "We never reached that topic of conversation between all the chaos happening around campus." He looked back at the puppy on his lap, lazily scratching behind his ears as he said, "His name is Cupcake."

Lily couldn't help but smile, amused with the unusual name. "Cupcake? Really?"

Loki grinned unabashedly, "What can I say? I like all things sweet, cupcakes included." His words only made the young woman at his side visibly tense, because Bobby had told them that Tricksters had a fast metabolism that indulged them to develop an intense love for sweet things such as sugar and candy. "And this little fella is certainly one of the sweetest dogs I've had the pleasure of adopting."

Lily found herself observing him, though rather distracted with her thoughts. He seemed like he belonged in that place, a relaxed look on his face as he lazily leaned back on the ground and continued caressing his dog, moving one arm over his head to shield his eyes from the sun.

It was a sight that made a pleasant warmness cross through her chest, though it was fairly different to the melancholy she had previously felt when watching other people around the park having a nice, enjoyable evening with their loved ones.

He looked _human_.

As though sensing her eyes on him, Loki tilted his head to the side and locked eyes with her, a gentle smile appearing immediately on his lips as he caught her staring.

He rejoiced in the blush that adorned her cheeks, thinking to himself that she looked radiant that day, but knowing that she was trying to find something inhuman in him, something that would incriminate him.

A Trickster couldn't be tricked, he was aware of her brothers' plans for his fate, just as he was aware that she didn't seem to share their suspicions, which allowed him to enjoy what would, most certainly, be one of the last times they would see each other. It was only a matter of time before they realized he was indeed the creature they were trying to hunt down. It was only a matter of time before he would be forced to leave the quiet life he had formed in the city and start over somewhere else.

"I always wanted to have a dog," Lily admitted distractedly. "But my father wouldn't let us get one."

"Really?" Loki leaned back against the tree's trunk. He knew every single detail about her life, but there were things he wanted to hear from her perspective, events he had overlooked through the years. "Why?"

"We were in constant movement because of our job, but it was just an excuse that my father used with us when we asked him for something. He didn't like animals, not even dogs or cats, he thought that caring for them was a waste of time."

John had also mentioned that he didn't have time to care for an animal, which had turned out to be true considering that he didn't even have time to care for his own children.

"My brothers don't care much for animals," Loki started to say, bringing her out of her thoughts. He looked almost as lost in thoughts as she felt. He was thinking that, in fact, his brothers haven't cared much about anything that their father created, but _he_ had always found himself interested in the masterpieces his father gave life to. "But my father loved them."

Through thick and thin, God had loved every single one of his creations, even when they broke his heart in pieces and forced him to give them their free-will; even when he had been forced not to interfere in their lives, he had always loved them.

But things had changed, his disappearance had brought chaos and pain upon every creation of his.

Loki hadn't thought about his father's disappearance for a long time- it was the one thought that caused him enough pain to want to push it as far as he could inside of his mind.

"Are your brothers here?" Lily was curious about him, though she wasn't supposed to be as interested in him as she felt.

Something different crossed his eyes after her question, though it was brief enough for her not to be able to recognize what emotion it was. She recalled what he had mentioned about his brothers, how they constantly fought with one another just like her own brothers did, and she had to wonder if the look that crossed his face meant that things were still complicated between them.

For a moment, she felt embarrassed for having asked, but it was driven out of her mind once he shook his head as an answer.

"I haven't seen them in a while," Loki admitted carefully, a little cautious of the whole topic. "We have very different perspectives about certain subjects, which eventually prolonged the constant fights between ourselves, something that I didn't think I could continue handling."

"So," Lily had to swallow the lump that had gotten stuck on her throat, understanding more about his situation than she would've previously believed she would. "You left them?"

Loki stared at her in a way that made her think that, perhaps, she wasn't the only one that could sense the connection between them, that could feel how similar to each other they were.

It was a thought that frightened her, but at the same time, that made her feel less alone in the world.

"It's not easy to see those that you love more than anything else in the world try to destroy each other," He said at last, a guarded expression on his face. "I couldn't stand to see them like that. The worse part of it was that they wanted me to choose a side. They wanted me to choose what brother I loved more than the other, and what brother I would be willing to see destroyed, and I couldn't stand that," He sighed tiredly, then allowed himself to meet her eyes, knowing that he'd find comprehension there. "I _had_ to leave."

Lily took a moment to process his words, then nodded quietly. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, I know from personal experience that it's never easy to abandon your family, but sometimes it's something that needs to be done."

The green-eyed woman was thinking about her own choices, how she would always regret having abandoned them, but it had been something she needed to do to properly heal from all the emotional and physical abuse she received from her father through her childhood.

"What about you?" Loki wanted to move the conversation around, not thinking that he could be able to continue talking about his brothers without becoming overwhelmed with all the melancholy he had attempted to push down through the centuries. "Last time we talked you mentioned you were reconnecting with your brothers, how's that going?"

"It's actually going pretty well so far, which, if I admit so, surprises me."

"Having siblings is...complicated," Loki chuckled, nodding in understanding.

"I can go from loving them to wanting to kill them in literally five seconds," Lily laughed, "I'd die for them, but I would also totally murder them if they tested my patience."

"And that," Loki smirked. "-is the joy of having siblings."

They shared a small laugh, then a comfortable silence covered them.

It had been a while since she had felt as comfortable around someone as she felt around him in that moment. There was just _something_ about the place, about how close to each other they were sitting, about how his puppy rested between them in the short space that separated them that made her feel _alive_. She felt almost whole, as though she were exactly where she was supposed to be, as though she had found her place in the world, which didn't make much sense when she tried to think about it.

Caleb had never made her feel like that. She had never felt like she belonged at his side.

When she looked at Loki, however, she couldn't help but feel as though she finally belonged there, in the park, as though the two of them were better together. To some extent, it scared her deeply; no one had ever made her feel like that before, not even her ex-fiancé, and she didn't know him well enough to be feeling those things. He wasn't only a complete stranger- he was also the main suspect of their hunt.

It was _wrong_.

But being with him felt _right_ , like it was supposed to happen.

Somewhere to their left, Cupcake lay on the ground, exhausted at last, chewing on his paws.

The sun had begun to settle, casting a soft golden gleam through the whole park.

For a moment, as she looked at the man on her side, she couldn't help but think that he looked like an angel with the sun's golden glow over him. It accentuated the color of his hair, the paleness of his skin, the vivid amber of his eyes.

It was a sight that, in all honesty, stole her breath away.

In that moment, Loki turned his head to look at her, a soft smile playing on his lips. "This is nice," He said at last, looking as though he shared her thoughts, to then teasingly add: "Have you been following me? We've ran into each other constantly these past days."

"You can thank your dog for us seeing each other today," Lily said, and as though the small dog could understand those words, he leaped into action and started to lick her cheeks once more, his tail wiggling in excitement. She giggled as it happened, muttering a soft, "I think he likes me."

Loki watched the scene with a warm smile, something different crossing his features this time. "That makes two of us."

Lily looked down, hoping to hide the smile that crossed her face at his words, forcing herself to push back the warmth that had spread over her chest. Sam and Dean _could_ be right about their assumptions, the least she needed was to become sentimental with the monster they were meant to hunt.

Observing her reaction made him feel accomplished. Despite how inappropriate and forbidden it was, he couldn't dismiss the fact that he had a soft spot for her, and that, as startling as that discovery was, he found himself wanting to be on the receiving end of her smiles and soft looks at all times.

His duty was to protect her, Loki convinced himself as he ignored all the warnings that Heaven seemed to be sending down to him, because a guardian angel was never meant to directly intervene with their human. They were just supposed to watch and gently guide towards the right path through a series of events that humans would later catalog as coincidences. But, he smirked to himself, he was never good at following orders.

He ignored all the sirens going out on his head, reminding him that he was not even supposed to approach her, and said, "I could take you out to dinner, if you'd like," while he pondered on the possibility of her discovering his real identity before her brothers could even fathom the existence of angels.

People had the tendency of considering Sam to be the smart brother, Dean to be the perfect soldier, and Lily to be the rebellious runaway, but Loki knew better than to degrade her to those titles. He could see that she shared some of their characteristics: she was loyal, fierce, and willing to play her role as a soldier; characteristics that Dean bore. In a similar way, she was also intelligent, intuitive, and kind; attributes that often described Sam. But she was different in her own way- she was different in a way that made her be similar to _him_.

Sam and Dean Winchester were two different sides of a same coin.

His father had once mentioned the same thing about Michael and Lucifer, leaving both Gabriel and Raphael out of said stereotype. He could see then, having been around the young woman for enough time, that she was similar to himself in that sense.

Lily couldn't help but to give him a teasing look, "If I hypothetically said yes...?"

She wanted to accept, but there was the whole issue that he could be their Trickster stopping her.

Loki knew what she was trying to do, he could see how she tried to focus on her mission from time to time to no avail. It made him realize that she also felt the intense connection that tied them, though she was probably confused about it as she didn't know the same things that he did.

He acted as though he were thinking it through, then said, "I would be very hypothetically happy," and meant it.

He had always felt great admiration and love towards humans, he was one of the _only_ angels that liked being on Earth surrounded by them. However, through the course of his immortal life, he had never wanted to be around a human as much as he wanted to be around her. It was something that should have scared him, but that he imagined had to do with their connection as _guardian angel_ and _assigned human_.

"Yes," The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. There were about a million things telling her she was playing with fire, that she needed to be cautious around him, but she pushed those thoughts away, allowing herself just one moment to act upon what she wanted. "I'd love to have dinner with you."

Surprise shone on the blond man's face, eyebrows raising in contemplation of her words. The young woman across from him seemed almost nervous after those words were out of her mouth, another blush covering her cheeks. Seeing how flustered she looked, he allowed himself to feel the warmth that overcame his senses every time he was in her presence.

It was wrong, but at the moment, it felt _right_.

Being together, even when it was just talking, or teasing each other, or bluntly flirting, or even having a discussion, felt right.

Loki had watched over her from the exact moment, the exact _second_ , she was born, and even when he decided to leave heaven to become a Trickster, she remained under his protection because there were things he couldn't bring himself to leave behind. He left his family, that he loved more than anything else on the whole universe, and doing so destroyed him. He held into her because he couldn't leave everything behind or he'd go insane.

An angel was assigned only _one_ human to protect on their lifetime, and she had been the one assigned for him to protect. Her brothers were vessels, and while she was lucky enough not to be involved so directly with them, she had, quite literally, an archangel on her shoulders.

Because of the rules that prohibited it, he never thought he'd get to meet her, which made him reluctant to leave her side now that he had the privilege of meeting her.

They had so much in common, he never though it possible for someone to share the same internal conflicts when it came to the matter of family, and he wondered if that was the reason for his father to assign that particular human to him.

He found himself wondering if guardian angels were prohibited to meet their assigned humans because they'd feel the same fascination and connection that he felt towards Lily, or if it was a different case and their connection had nothing to do with heaven and all to do with themselves.

That theory was quickly disregarded when he remembered that his siblings often mentioned that their assigned humans felt like a _burden_. He had _never_ agreed with that statement. Lily Winchester had never felt like a burden. Now that he had the chance of being in her presence instead of simply watching from far, he could admit that she felt special, different. She felt like a _friend_.

"I actually know of a place that allows dogs," Lily said suddenly, "It's only a few streets away."

"Yeah, we should get going," Loki stood from the ground in one swift movement, crouching down to tie a leash to Cupcake's collar before straightening once more. "Lead the way, sweetheart."

They started walking together.

As they were leaving the park behind them and entering the streets once more, they maintained small talk through most of the trip, and when she inquired what his job as a janitor included, he deliberately took a moment to answer, something that she noticed but decided to ignore, and at last, as they were almost approaching the restaurant that the blonde woman had guided him to, he cheerfully said: "Cleaning the University's campus so those crackhead students can live in a healthy environment."

At those choice of words, Lily raised her eyebrows, a look of disgust crossing her young face. "That sounds like a nightmare."

He shrugged, not giving it much importance. "Sometimes it is. But it's not always bad. Kids are not always bad."

Lily moved a strand of her hair that blocked her eyes away from her face and observed him, drowning on the warm feeling that persisted since they started walking together.

The young woman couldn't deny the fact that she liked him- more than she was supposed to- and it was because of that attraction that she felt, that _connection_ , that she could only focus on how it felt to be around him, thus forgetting that she was supposed to be cautious around him.

She just _couldn't_ see him as a monster, not when she took in consideration the way he treated her, and how he had seemed to want to protect her from whatever had been stalking her recently, and how, in that moment, when he talked about the students in campus, his voice had been full of respect for them.

"You actually like your job," She tilted her head to the side. "And you also like the students?"

Loki gave her a curious look, not understanding where she wanted to get with that point. "I do."

"But most of them are-" She stopped herself, not knowing how else to address the situation. The amount of times she had heard her ex-fiancé mention all the horrible things he had seen through the years there had never escaped her mind; it was awful to think of all the drugs, all the rape, all the violence happening around campus. It unnerved her to no end. "Most of them are really fucked up and do horrible shit just because."

"They're flawed," He conceded carefully, "But a lot of them try to do better." It had only been a simple phrase, but it laced with a deep amount of passion and respect, something that left the woman at his side pleasantly surprised. "And, in my opinion, that's what matters."

Lily didn't know much about demigods, just what she had learned in the last twenty-four hours. They were the offspring of a deity and a mortal. It had been mentioned in one of the conversations, however, that they had the tendency of shutting down their mortal side and adopting a 'holier than thou' attitude based on their half-divine status.

It was an attitude that she had never seen on Loki.

He was charismatic most of the time, and while he had a smirk that sometimes portrayed mischief and trouble, he hadn't acted arrogant in front of her before. The more time she spent around him, the less she believed him to be their Trickster.

"Can we talk about last night?" Lily asked suddenly.

Loki seemed startled with the change of topic, looking at Cupcake walking ahead of them before looking towards her and cocking one eyebrow in her direction. "You make it sound like we fucked last night and then refused to acknowledge it."

Her gentle touch on his arm- she was holding into his bicep as they walked- distracted him. It seemed to ignite a gentle fire that warmed him in a pleasant, comfortable way. She was close enough for him to be able to smell her perfume, it was sweet and alluring in a gentle way, making him feel intoxicated.

He always preferred sweet things (smells, candy, etc.), even before becoming a Trickster.

 _Everything_ about her felt gentle and sweet, but he knew it was quite the opposite- she was perfectly skilled to kill anything on her path if needed, there was supposed to be nothing remotely gentle about her persona.

However, when he looked into her eyes, he could only see kindness on her soul.

It made a lump form on his throat when he remembered that all her that made her gentle and sweet would be gone as soon as the apocalypse started. Things _would_ drastically change, and as much as he wished he could stop it from happening, some things had been set in stone since his father created the universe. Some things _had_ to happen.

Lily found herself rolling her eyes at his words. "I'm a grown woman, not a teenager. Sex is not a topic I'm afraid to touch, I wouldn't not-acknowledge having a one-night stand with someone."

He'd been about to answer when they approached an old-looking building with several circular chairs outside, overlooking a small garden that looked very well-cared for. The inside of the shop could be seen through its transparent crystals windows; it was a small place, but it had an air of sophistication that couldn't be found in most modern restaurants. The shop's main theme seemed to be flowers, because that was what adorned the door, the windows, the sign with its name. It seemed like a nice place, and he could almost picture them sitting in one of those tables, his puppy laying down by their feet as they laughed and talked- it seemed like the perfect place to spend time with her.

The perfect place for their last conversation.

"This is it," Lily brightened, leaving behind their previous conversation. "Petal's café."

"I'm not digging the name," Loki shrugged as he looked around. "But I like the place."

The tables were small enough for them to be extremely close to one another, for which once they sat across from each other, their legs kept brushing. In an attempt to be more comfortable, he pulled her chair closer to his own and allowed her to gently rest her knees against his own, the closeness delighting both of them.

Cupcake lay by their feet between them, aggressively chewing on his own paws.

"The first time I came to this place was to make an exorcism," Lily admitted as she leaned back comfortably against her chair, distractedly looking around and spotting the little changes the place had made since the last time she was there. His eyes followed her actions, finding curious how open she was about her job once he had admitted that he knew about said world. "A group of high-school students attracted the attention of a demon through what they thought was simply a silly game on a Ouija board."

"On this place?" Loki raised his eyebrows. He leaned unconsciously towards her, interested in the story she had begun to tell him. "They used a Ouija board in public?"

She nodded, having shared his exasperation at that detail. "None of them knew what they were doing, and in the end, they dragged a lot of people into their mess. The demon possessed one of them and refused to leave the body even after I casted several exorcisms, then it wouldn't allow anyone inside this restaurant to leave. A lot of people were possessed, others ruthlessly killed. Basically, the usual when it comes to demons."

"How did you deal with it?" Loki inquired, imagining that it must've been a powerful demon if it reacted so violently to the presence of a hunter.

"I had help from the kids that summoned it in the first place. I doused the creature with holy water while all of the hostages chanted the exorcism alongside me."

A waitress approached them to take their order, recognizing the blonde woman almost immediately. Last time she had been there, she'd looked younger and, in a way, healthier, but after all she had done to help the workers of Petal's cafe, there was no mistaking her.

"Welcome back," The waitress said warmly, smiling sweetly at her. "It's good to see you back under better circumstances. I'm here to take your orders as soon as you feel ready."

"Thank you," Lily returned the warm smile, remembering how frightened the young woman in front of her had been that awful day of the exorcism. "I think we're ready to order. Loki?"

And once their order had been taken, the waitress told them that their order was on the house. Before they could protest, she added: "Direct orders from the boss. We appreciate how much you helped us, miss. Our doors will always be open for you and your husband."

Loki seemed amused by those words, though Lily couldn't disguise how flustered those words had left her.

"Thank you," The blond man nodded politely at the waitress.

Once she left with their orders, he turned back to the blushing woman and fondly observed her. He wondered what had made her feel so flustered, if it was the fact that someone had openly thanked her for her job as a hunter, or if it was the implication of them being married.

Either way, such a raw portrayal of emotions made the former angel appreciate her more; in heaven everyone was a machine with no emotions, everything was done in a stoic manner. He found _refreshing_ how emotional humans were, it was what he most liked about them.

He extended one hand over the table and briefly touched her left hand, a warm feeling crossing both of them once they made direct contact with each other in that way.

It felt like an intimate contact, which scared the blonde woman more than she would've liked to admit, but that felt suitable at the moment.

"You wanted to talk about last night," Loki conceded, slowly retreating his hand from her own. "Let's talk."

Lily felt uncomfortable even talking about it, the unknown presence having rattled her nerves since the first time she felt it follow her. The amount of power and danger it emanated unnerved her- it felt familiar in a way she couldn't understand, and that frightened her to no end.

At last, she said: "I want to know what the creature following me is. I know I said I would trust you to take care of this, but I would like to be prepared just in case things don't go as planned."

There was nothing more frustrating than wanting to assure her that he would never allow a creature of the such to harm her in any way but not being able to voice those words out-loud without revealing what his real duty was. Her protection was his main concern, he wouldn't allow anything to directly hurt her; even if he had to break several more rules to protect her, he would.

"I'll take care of it," Loki promised carefully, threading through the thin line of being sincere and evasive at the same time. "You don't need to worry about it."

Lily's head pounded, her never-ending headache making a reappearance. Truth was, while she appreciated his concern, her patience was wearing short. "I'm capable of defending myself, Loki, thank you for your concern, but this is something that involves me directly. I _deserve_ to know what is following me around and what does it want."

There it was, the fierceness that characterized the Winchester siblings so well.

He chuckled halfheartedly. He had watched her survive against all odds, he was perfectly aware of the fact that she- _and her brothers_ \- were perfectly capable of protecting themselves. It didn't appease his protective side, though.

"I know that you are, sweetheart. It's just that there are things you _shouldn't_ have to deal with on your own. And this thing following you?" Disgust crossed his features, a dark emotion passing through his eyes. "It's something no human should _ever_ come into contact with."

"I don't like people fighting my battles for me," Lily moved to lean against her chair, putting a little distance between them. "If you want to help me deal with this, you can, but we do this _together_. The thing wants _me_ , not _you_."

Loki groaned, the first glance of annoyance crossing his features. "Could you be more stubborn?"

She took it as a compliment, merely shrugging as she held her stance.

" _Fine_ ," He conceded at last, rolling his eyes. "We'll deal with this _together_."

He had nothing against fighting alongside her, in other circumstances he would've found it ideal for them to reach that amount of trust with one another, but there were two things that worried him. First, he worried about her safety around the creature stalking her, and secondly, she could realize he wasn't even a Trickster if they encountered the creature together; it would recognize him as the archangel that he was, just as he could recognize the monster for the hideous abomination that it was.

"But, perhaps, not today?" Lily offered him a sheepish look.

Finding and murdering the Trickster terrorizing campus was her top priority at the moment. Then, once the people around campus were safe, she could deal with whatever creature had taken an uncanny interest in her.

Loki felt relieved by those words, a soft look crossing his features. He agreed, "Not today."

Unknown to the blonde woman, Dean had texted her a message almost an hour before that moment, which remained unread on her jacket-pocket.

 **We found the evidence you needed, the janitor is our Trickster. Get your ass back to the motel now, we're getting ready to hunt him down tonight.**

And there was another message from an unknown number. **Your brothers told me you don't want to see me. I know I hurt you, but please, there's something wrong going on right now and I need you here. There's something in my house. I don't know what it is, I don't know what it wants, but please. Please, Lily, help me.**

The blonde woman had been distracted enough not to notice those messages, but once she did, it was too late to help her ex-fiancé. Her brothers, however, remained waiting for her to arrive at the motel so that they could strike at the Trickster _together_ as a team.


	5. History repeats itself

**_Disclaimer_** _: Supernatural doesn't belong to me. The plot, Lily (and some other characters) are mine._

 _English is not my native language, so I apologize for the mistakes I might have._

 _I thoroughly apologize for taking so long to update. These last two semesters of college have been pure hell, but I hope to be able to keep updating now that I'm on vacation. Thank you for reviewing and supporting this story!_

* * *

…

Chapter 5

…

"What's wrong?" Loki inquired, noticing the sudden change in the young woman in front of him. Her smile had disappeared, her blushed cheeks turning pale, a turmoil of emotions crossing her face- though the most prominent ones seemed to be disappointment and shame.

 ** _We found the evidence you needed; the janitor is our Trickster. Get your ass back to the motel now, we're getting ready to hunt him down tonight._**

The young woman looked away from her phone, shoulders tense and lips pursed into a tight line as she held into the edge of the table in an attempt to collect her boiling emotions.

The man sitting across from her was their Trickster, the creature that had been killing people all over campus.

Suddenly, one of their previous conversations came to her mind (one where he had mentioned that the creature hunting the university's campus was just serving justice) and she realized how blind she had been.

Lily felt embarrassed for having been so unprofessional, ( _a foolish idiot_ , as her father would certainly say), but what bothered her the most was something else, a revelation of sorts. And, therefore, though she tried to ignore that particular emotion, she couldn't bring herself to deny the fact that it made her feel sad.

He had played her.

Loki was the first person in years that she allowed herself to trust. Clearly, it had been a mistake, since he turned out to be their monster.

The young woman never formed any kind of relationship with anyone when she had to stay for a few weeks somewhere for a case, all because she didn't want to go through the eternal heartache of leaving friends behind for their own safety. It was something that pained her more than she had previously realized- however, with that particular janitor, with the charming and charismatic man that seemed to like her, she had let her guard down. She had thought that, taking in consideration how effortless they had connected with one another, it was something that wouldn't go wrong.

Her father's words came back to her with enough strength to render her speechless for a moment. _You're desperate for attention. You need everyone to like you and it's pathetic! You're a hunter, not a child, start acting like one!_

Lily could never forgive him for the gruesome beating that followed their argument, and for many other awful things about her childhood, but she couldn't ignore the fact that, perhaps, he had been right about some things.

She was desperate for attention and lonely enough to fool herself into believing that their main suspect was innocent regardless of the evidence that incriminated him, and merely attempting to get to know her because he _liked_ her. It was a notion that, after knowing the truth, made her feel as foolish as her father believed her to be.

Loki had been using her from the very beginning. Their conversations, their moments, their laughs- none of it had been real.

For a moment, she couldn't breathe. The figure stalking her- the one Loki wanted her to be cautious of- was that also a tricks to make her trust him? Her cheeks reddened, though she wasn't sure if it was because of the anger she felt or the embarrassment that came with realizing that he had toyed with her.

"Lily?" Loki called, noticing how lost in thought she seemed. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Lily answered, forcing herself to appear calm and collected. "Everything's fine."

There was nothing she wanted more than to disappear from there, to escape his inquiring eyes and the sadness that came with thinking that he had been making fun of her all along, but she couldn't make a stand against him there, in the middle of the restaurant, with mortals all around them, without the proper means to end his life. The only thing she could actually do, in that moment, was to continue pretending.

However, Loki knew better than to believe her words. He realized that, somehow, Lily knew the truth. It appeared that time together had come to an end…and he couldn't shake the feeling of loneliness that overcame his senses.

Acting on an impulse, Loki's hand came in contact with her own. His hand was warm, his gesture soft. It made a lump form on the young woman's throat, because she couldn't believe he would go that far to pretend.

When she looked up and their eyes locked, she saw a thousand different emotions reflected on his alluring eyes, none of them seemingly false. She allowed herself to observe him, to read his features in search for the truth that she already knew. What she found in his eyes, however, only made the situation harder than it was. Either Loki was an incredible liar, or he was a mere fool, just like her.

"A _fool_ ," Loki whispered, staring right at her in a way that stole her breath.

Lily startled, removing her hand from his grasp. "How do you know what I'm-"

Loki shook his head, breaking their eye contact. "I work with Caleb Garcia, you know. He mentioned you a few times. I put two and two together, and I know you dated-"

The blonde woman swallowed, stealing a quick look to her cellphone before looking up once again, not wanting to give the man in front of her any opportunity to take advantage of her distraction. Caleb had texted something about him needing her help- had the Trickster done something to him?

"Are you threatening me?"

Loki faltered, scowling. He had known things would change once she realized he was their Trickster, but he hadn't expected her to lose all her trust on him. He had hoped that she would trust the connection- the _spark_ \- that they shared over the technicalities of their situation, but it appeared he had been mistaken.

"No," He said, wholeheartedly sincere. "I just meant to say that Caleb Garcia was a complete fool for treating you in the way that he did. You are...the most breath-taking creature I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."

She didn't know what scared her the most, the thought of their friendship having been a trick, or the thought of it being as real for him as it was for her.

Not knowing what to do, she did something that she swore she wouldn't do again: she decided to run from the situation.

Cupcake whined when she stood abruptly from the table, making her take a moment to look in his direction. The small dog watched her with sad eyes, though he had moved towards his owner's lap. Loki allowed the dog to be there, but he seemed ready to follow the young woman if she asked him to.

"Don't run," Loki said softly, "Not from me. Allow me to explain."

The truth was, he had no problem with having to trick Sam and Dean, but it was different with Lily.

He was aware of the fact that the situation would've been much easier if he had tricked her, if he could bring himself to play her like she didn't matter at all, but he _couldn't_ and _wouldn't_. She _did_ matter to him, a great lot. He didn't want to cause her any unnecessary pain.

"Explain what?" She hissed, losing her composure. Her eyes glared at him, but there was a barely concealed look of pain written on her whole face. "No more tricks, _Trickster_."

Loki could see how affected she was, and it pained him to no end. He stood, moving his dog to the ground and taking his leash. "Lily-"

He wanted to explain himself to her before the imminent moment when they would hunt him down; briefly, he wondered if she would be capable of attacking him without any remorse whatsoever. He could see how affected knowing the truth had left her- from his part, it wouldn't be easy to fight her when his duty was the complete opposite.

"You know, there was absolutely no need to go as far as you did," Lily snapped, unable to stop herself. She was alone, with no weapons to defend herself against him, and yet, for some inexplicable reason, she couldn't bring herself to be scared. "You tricked us all, but what you did to me? There was no need for you to-" She hesitated, then decided not to continue. _There was no need to lead me on. To make me believe you liked me. To make me believe we had a connection, a spark- something._

Loki heard, clear as a day, what she had meant to say. "I can explain."

Lily faltered. "So, you don't deny it?"

Loki met her eyes. "I won't deny that I am a Trickster," He felt, however, the weight of his lie getting stuck on his throat.

It wasn't the right time for the Winchesters to know the truth about heaven and hell, there was no possible reason for him to tell her who he really was. Admitting out loud- to a _Winchester_ , nonetheless- that he was the Archangel Gabriel would allow other angels in Heaven to know he was alive, a risk he wasn't willing to take, not even for her.

The blonde woman sucked in a breath, then looked away. There were about a million thoughts running through her head simultaneously, and even more emotions boiling inside of her. Not wanting to spend another moment in his presence, feeling pained, disgusted, and embarrassed of having been played like that, she walked away without sparing him a second glance.

There was nothing he could do but watch her leave.

He knew, from the first moment that he allowed himself to get directly involved in her life, that it would be difficult to let her go when the time came; what he wasn't expecting, however, was the heartache that he felt with the thought of her hating him for having tricked her.

 _Perhaps_ , Loki thought distractedly, already knowing his thoughts were incorrect, but allowing himself to indulge in them for a moment, searching for something- for anything- to distract himself from the heartache he felt but couldn't understand, _Perhaps this is for the best._

* * *

...

* * *

Despite their plans, the four hunters couldn't hunt down the Trickster that night, for an unusual and unexpected storm had forced them to stay inside the motel all night and throughout most of the following day.

The storm ceased as abruptly as it had started, and thus Bobby wasted no time. He went out to find Caleb and make sure he was okay, leaving the Winchester siblings alone for a while.

There was a great tension in the room once he left, though the oldest man attempted to ignore it for as long as he could, not knowing how to start discussing the elephant in the room.

Embarrassed, and immerse in the turmoil of emotions that consumed her, Lily hadn't spoken much since arriving at their room, just a few sentences to tell them that she needed one of them to check on her ex-boyfriend, who claimed to be in danger, and that was it. She cringed when they attempted to mention the Trickster, and they quickly dropped the subject.

Sam and Dean had expected her to explode and even to fight them, claiming that there was no way she could have been tricked, but it never happened, something that surprised them greatly. She had merely joined them on the small, dusty living room, nodding every once in a while, to allow them to notice she was listening to them, but saying nothing about the matter.

"Once this is over," Dean said softly, "There's something we have to talk about-" He stole a look at their youngest brother, and then turned to meet her eyes, "-there's something about Sammy you must know."

Lily's eyes trailed over the tall figure of her younger brother, to then nod quietly in her brother's direction.

There were a lot of things they still had to talk about.

Ever since the first moment she arrived in campus to meet them, they'd been focused in the case and hadn't had time to discuss what happened in the years they were separated. The details about their father's death, in particular, were still unclear to the young woman, as well as her brothers' part on it, and the whole story behind John making a deal with the yellow-eyed demon.

"We'll talk once this is over, and I-" Lily hesitated. "I think I can spend a few weeks with you two. If this matter you want to talk about is as serious as I think, I won't leave you."

A genuine smile covered Dean's face, his eyes softening as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "You could stay with us indefinitely, but something tells me you don't want that," He paused. "Do you?"

The young woman hesitated. There was a part of her that wanted things to be back to how they were when they were younger, a part that longed to be with them once more, but a lot had changed since then.

"We're not teenagers anymore, dear. You know it would be too complicated for us to be together again. Being on the road eventually gets monotone and tiresome, and the Impala will feel too crowded, especially in the moments where we might want some privacy."

"We don't have to travel together," Dean mentioned, though that was what he missed most. The three of them in the Impala, as it had always been, as it was _supposed_ to be. "But we could work the same cases, stay in the same motels."

"It could work," Sam approached them, having eavesdropped on their conversation. "We'd be in separate cars, which is better, because when things get too exhausting, we can simply rotate who we travel with."

In other words, when one of the boys grew tired of each other's company, which happened more often than not, one of them could simply move and travel with their sister on her car.

Lily nodded quietly, even though she knew it would eventually get too much for her. After all, she had learnt to cherish her solitude, and hunting alone was often less-stressing than hunting with a partner. But their attempts to convince her to stay with them made her feel, for the first time in a long time, wanted and cared for.

"We just have to get this over with," She said, sighing, and then looking away. "This stupid case that won't end."

Sam and Dean shared a small look.

"And are you-" Sam hesitated.

Dean continued for him. "Do you think yourself capable of killing the Trickster?"

It was a question that she had been expecting, but it still took her a moment to answer.

She pursed her lips, embarrassment filling her senses once more, though she attempted to hide it. Lily really didn't want her brothers to know how affected she was with the realization that she had been fooled, that Loki tricked her into trusting in him, and that she- even though they only knew each other for a week- had grown to thoroughly enjoy his company.

"Of course I am," She forced a small scoff to leave her mouth. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"What about Caleb?"

"Bobby is on his way to his house know," Lily reminded him curtly, not wanting to discuss the same topic with her brothers again.

All she wanted was to get out of that dammed place already. Being there never did her any good, not with her ex-boyfriend, not with the case they were currently on, and certainly not with the Trickster.

"I still think you should, um," Sam looked uncomfortable. "Maybe you should let Bobby help us with the Trickster...and you deal with Caleb."

" _Sam_ ," Dean said warningly, knowing that their sister wouldn't take his words lightly.

The blonde woman turned to face her younger brother, annoyed. She knew that her brothers would behave in that way- it was _obvious_ , they weren't exactly discrete about it- but it still made her feel frustrated and furious. It was enough that their father had always doubted her abilities, she didn't need her brothers to do the same just because she made _one_ mistake- one that was _not_ going to happen again.

"I never judged nor doubted your capacity of killing a monster when the whole Amy Pond fiasco happened, brother," Lily forced a smile into her face, though it didn't reach her eyes. In a second, Sam's eyes portrayed how much he regretted his words, but she continued before he could speak, "I suggest you do the same."

"It's not the same-"

"No," She snapped, losing her short patience. "It is not. You fell in love with our monster and refused to hunt her down, I am nowhere near close falling for the Trickster. You need to stop acting like you haven't made mistakes, and let me fix it instead of belittling me for my own."

A tense silence covered the room after her outburst. It wasn't unusual for them to bicker, it was part of their dynamic as siblings, but it had been a while since she had a disagreement of such capacity with them.

Ever since she could remember, she had attempted to be a role model for the youngest sibling- having basically raised him alongside their older brother-, for which hearing that he didn't trust her with that case made her extremely annoyed.

She was more than capable of hunting the Trickster, even if he had fooled her.

Sam and Dean didn't know how to act afterwards, the youngest of them being irritated at his sister, and the oldest of them feeling like he had to fix the situation before it could escalate. Before he could open his mouth to try and steer the conversation away, a rough knock on the door caught their attention.

Dean hid a sigh of relief, then approached to open the door.

"Your ex was fine," Bobby grunted even before fully crossing the threshold, irritation written on his face. "There was nothing unusual on the house, no EMF, no sulfur, no _nothing_ ," He dropped his keys on the table, then promptly moved to get the stakes out of his duffel bag, throwing one to each sibling before moving towards the door, "Let's go."

Lily faltered, "What, _now_?"

Dean frowned. "It's too early, Bobby. He's probably still working-"

Sam scowled. "There could be innocent civilians around, are you sure?"

The oldest hunter pursed his lips in annoyance, looking like he'd rather end their case as soon as possible. "If you idiots manage to get your heads outta your asses, you'll see that in half an hour it'll be sundown. Crawford Hall will be almost empty, students will be on their way to their apartments or to the local party, only a few professors and janitors will remain in campus."

Dean considered his words for a moment, then admitted that it was the best moment to act.

Lily looked away, knowing that- since she had admitted she knew he was their Trickster- he was most definitely expecting them to attack; that, if he hadn't skipped town already.

She couldn't let her brothers know she had spent the previous day with Loki, especially not when she went as far as to having dinner with him. The least she needed was for Sam and Dean to get judgmental- or for them to think that she was a fool.

However, the blonde woman couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about the whole ordeal, though she tried not to dwell in those thoughts.

No monster had ever tried to explain himself in such desperate way, and no monster would have ever allowed her to leave; so why had he? It made no sense. She had been without weapons, without her brothers, and clearly affected by his betrayal. It had been the best opportunity to take advantage of the situation and attack her, or even take her as leverage for her brothers- but he had done none of that.

The young woman couldn't understand.

Bobby continued before the others could speak. "We have to do it tonight, element of surprise or not, because he's only going to continue giving people their "just dessert" and that only means more death in our hands. Worst case scenario, he manages to escape and skip town. Best case scenario, we hunt him down, this ends, and we can go home."

* * *

...

* * *

There was tension lingering on the air when the four hunters arrived in Crawford Hall, as though the place and its buildings had been stained from the sins that happened there. It was considerably morose, the main building had most of its lights off, and a few of the streetlamps had been broken, giving the place a darker complexion than usual.

Dean went first, according to their plan, to trick the Trickster into believing that he had gone alone.

After a few minutes, the other three moved inside the building.

Bobby was stationed on a door to the left side of the anfiteather where they could hear loud music- the place where they imagined the Trickster awaited them- while Sam and Lily covered the other door to the right, stakes in hand.

Suddenly, the music stopped, an eerie silence covering the whole place.

Bobby's eyes met Sam's through the distance, to then look at Lily, who had grown stoic in a matter of seconds, all thoughts and emotions pushed aside. After a moment, snippets of the conversation that Dean and the Trickster were having could be heard.

"-too bad. Like I said, I like you. Sam was right, you shouldn't have come alone."

"Well," Dean replied, the smirk almost palpable in his voice, "I'll agree with you there."

Sam and Lily busted through the doors, stakes in hands. A few places to their left, Bobby entered to the anfiteather too, his own stake raised in a threatening manner.

Inside, there were a few women in underwear seductively surrounding the oldest Winchester, while the Trickster watched, sitting back in one of the anfiteather chairs. He turned in time to see the other three hunters appear. His eyes trailed over Bobby and Sam, amusement crossing his eyes for a second, to then disappear as soon as he settled his eyes- only for a small moment- on the Winchester he cared for.

"Well, hello, sweetheart," Loki smirked, throwing her a wink. It was a change to how he usually behaved with her, but he needed to continue the show- the other hunters were, after all, staring at them. Lily's cheeks flushed, anger crossing her young features. The Trickster then turned towards Dean, and, with his best impression of astonishment, he said: "That fight you guys had outside- that was a trick?"

Dean shrugged, a devious smile crossing his handsome, young face.

Lily's anger made an appearance, and before she could think it through- because she never meant for her brothers to realize how much his betrayal had affected her- she gave the man she had dinner with an ugly smile, and said: "You're not the only one capable of using others for your own gain."

Loki had known she would take the fact that he was their Trickster as a betrayal, but he had never thought she would initiate the conversation in front of her brothers. For a moment, he couldn't control his expressions, though he could see her brothers were watching them.

"I _never_ tricked _you_ ," He wanted to discuss the situation privately with her, and he was tempted to snap his fingers and make the others disappear, but he knew that if he did, it would only make her angrier. "I made a fool out of your brothers, in multiple ways, but I never wanted to hurt you."

Sam tensed and shared a small look with Dean. The oldest brother seemed startled, being able to notice how sincere the Trickster's voice had sounded.

"Don't listen to him, girl. It's another one of his tricks."

The Trickster's jaw clenched at the interruption. He gave the oldest hunter a dark look, "Very good, but do you want to see a _real_ trick?" and then snapped his fingers.

The sound of a chainsaw roaring to life caught their attention, and Bobby had to duck not to be decapitated by the sudden man that had appeared. The Trickster laughed, leaning back on his chair as he snapped his fingers again, and a candy bar appeared on his hand.

Dean jumped to action, moving to attack the chainsaw man, but was promptly pulled back by one of the half-naked women, who threw him across the room with a strength she wasn't supposed to have.

Sam helped Bobby deal with the chainsaw man, and Lily ran towards Dean, grabbing one of the half-naked women by the hair and smashing her face against the wall.

The Trickster laughed again, delighted at the scene he so comfortably watched, leaning back on his chair.

Within a few moments, it was obvious that the four hunters were failing miserably. It entertained Loki to no end. Sam and Bobby were having a difficult time beating the chainsaw man, who seemed to get stronger with each moment that passed, and Dean and Lily were passionately fighting with the models the Trickster had conjured, to no avail.

Dean was thrown across the room, landing a few seats behind the Trickster, who whistled. "Nice toss, ladies!"

The blond hunter groaned in pain, something that seemed to alarm his sister. Lily, tired and angry, stabbed one of the models with the wooden stake, killing her, then attempted to move towards her brother to help him; but the remaining model grabbed her hair and stopped her, giving her one last blow before throwing her across the room.

The Trickster stood from his seat immediately, his eyes narrowed in the direction of the model. "What did I tell you? Be careful with her!"

The oldest Winchester begun to approach the Trickster from behind. He, on the other hand, had disregarded his candy bar and was walking towards the middle Winchester, observing as she held her stake tightly. "Oh, Lily. I did _not_ want you to have to see this."

She couldn't hide her confusion. "What-"

Loki winked, discretely pointing to something- or rather, _someone_ \- behind him, and that's when she realized that Dean was dangerously approaching the Trickster's back.

She started to open her mouth, to tell her brother that the Trickster had seen him approach, but things escalated too fast for her to be able to. Dean drove the stake through his chest, piercing his heart.

Loki's golden eyes were locked into the young woman's own as he groaned and fell backwards, a look of pure pain written on his young face. Overwhelmed, Lily's hands flew to her mouth in an attempt to hide her gasp.

The chainsaw man disappeared in a cloud of smoke, as well as the models.

Dean grunted, then removed the stake from the Trickster's chest, and he fell backwards into one of the chairs, blood coming out of his mouth, his eyes closed, his body completely limp and devoid of life.

Sam and Bobby joined Lily and Dean in front of the Trickster's corpse, the four of them breathing heavily in exhaustion.

"You guys okay?" Dean questioned, not taking his eyes off the Trickster.

"Yeah," Sam sighed, stealing a look at a very pale Lily. He grabbed her shoulders, pretending to need support for his wounds, but he wanted to reassure her, imagining that it wasn't easy to see a man she liked being killed. "I guess."

Dean groaned once more, starting to limp away. "All I gotta say, he had style."

The young woman felt grateful for her brother's hands on her shoulder, carefully leading her away from the scene, because she couldn't bring herself to stop looking at the Trickster's limp body, a disheartening feeling stuck on her chest ever since he had been killed right in front of her, their eyes locked.

"You okay?"

Lily nodded distractedly, "Just a little sore."

The four hunters hurriedly left Crawford Hall, moving towards the parking lot. The siblings attempted to thank Bobby for their help, but he brushed aside their words. "Let's just get the hell out of dodge before somebody finds that body."

Lily winced imperceptibly. "Right."

Bobby entered the backseat of the car, but before Lily and Dean could take their respective places, Sam stopped them, looking a little uncomfortable. "Look, Dean, Lily, um...I just wanted to say that I'm- I'm, uh..."

"Hey," Dean said, reading between the lines. "I know. Me too."

Lily rolled her eyes at them. "Well, I, for once would love to hear you both apologize like the grown adults that we are, but since you two don't know how to do that, I'll settle for this. Idiots."

"Bitch," Dean counterattacked.

"Jerk," Sam mockingly punched his brother's shoulder.

Bobby emerged from the car, "You guys are breaking my heart," He said sarcastically, to then glare at them, "Could we _please_ just leave?"

Lily and Sam went into the backseat, and Dean quickly moved to the driver's side. Within a moment, they had driven away from campus, and towards their motel.

Somewhere through the relatively short trip, Bobby groaned and rolled up his sleeves to check his wounds, "Fucking son of a bitch."

The three siblings winced, all aware of their own wounds. It hadn't been too difficult, considering some of the other cases that they'd dealt with, but it had been a little exhausting. The chainsaw man and the two models were relentless on their attempts to murder them.

"Are Tricksters always this-" Lily stopped herself, changing the question. "I don't know, I expected the Trickster's illusions to be less powerful and less threatening than they were. One of his bitches almost killed me."

Bobby shot her a look. "Tricksters can alter reality and create things, people, and objects out of thin air. Those girls and that chainsaw freak we fought were, for a moment, as real as you and me. That's why it was so difficult to finish this."

"Wasn't 'Loki' the name of a god?" Dean questioned distractedly, "Thor's brother or some bullshit like that."

"That's on the Marvel movie," Sam snorted, shooting him an amused look. "In the real, Scandinavian myths they aren't siblings."

"But he was a Trickster _god_ ," Lily narrowed her eyes, though severely surprised. "I guess that could explain his illusions being more powerful than normal."

"Nah," Bobby turned briefly on his seat to look at her. "I met the real Trickster god, Loki, a while ago in a trip to Europe for a case. The one we killed tonight shared his name, but it was certainly not the Scandinavian Trickster that you lot are talking about."

"So he was just- just a simple Trickster?"

Bobby shrugged. "A simple, but powerful one."

Lily wasn't completely convinced, but, knowing nothing about the whole ordeal, she simply settled for looking away, attempting to forget the gruesome image of Loki's lifeless eyes staring at her.

* * *

...

* * *

Arriving at her motel room, the blonde hunter sighed deeply, then leaned down against the closed door. Within a moment, her resolve broke and she promptly collapsed, sliding down into the floor, a breathless sound leaving her mouth. Her muscles protested against her every move, but there was a feeling stuck in her chest, one that confused her greatly, that didn't allow her to breathe properly.

Loki was dead.

She closed her eyes, her breathing still a little erratic, and she brought her hands to her face, hiding behind them for a moment. The image of the Trickster's life leaving his eyes haunted her, increasing the painful pressure on her chest, overwhelming her senses.

 _A fool_ , he had said. _Just like you._

A knock against the wall made her jump. Dean's voice followed through, "Can I shower in your room? Sammy is taking too long, and Bobby goes next once he's done."

Lily forced herself to stand, breathing deeply to collect herself. "Sure, Dean. I'm going to shower now, but you can come in anyways and wait in the living room. I'll leave the door unlocked for you."

"Thanks."

When Lily came back to the living room, a few minutes later, she found her brother waiting for her, distractedly tapping his fingers against the old table in the middle of the room. She had dressed already, and was tying her hair into a high ponytail.

"Hey dude, the shower's all yours now."

Dean looked up when she approached and forced a smile into his face, but didn't move from his spot. "Actually, I was thinking we could talk first, now that we're alone. About Sam."

Even though Dean made almost all the talking, there were parts that still felt incomplete for both of them.

It was a long talk, considering all that had happened since she left them. He told her about their most recent cases, of the reason they got back together at all (which had been to find their missing father) and of the murder of Sam's girlfriend in a similar way to how their mother had died.

"Poor Sam," Lily said quietly, though she didn't allow her brother to notice how affected she actually was. Out of the three siblings, _she_ had been the only one to actually see and remember their mother burning on the ceiling. It was an image that continuously haunted her. Most of the time, she couldn't sleep facing upwards- if she did, she felt as though she would open her eyes and see her mother there, on the ceiling, surrounded by fire.

"That's not all," Dean said somberly, then proceeded with the story.

Through his recounting of what was happening to their brother, Lily learnt that the yellow-eyed demon had selected Sam- all those years before, when he murdered their mother- for some diabolic plan that would, most definitely, endanger the whole world.

"I-I don't understand," The blonde woman said immediately. "What does the yellow-eyed demon want with Sam? What plans could he possibly have?"

A helpless look crossed Dean's face. He tightened his grip on the table, his knuckles turning white, his jaw locked tightly as he stared at the wall behind her head. "That's the thing, sis. We don't know- _I_ don't know."

"When you say _we_ ," She hesitated, grimacing in disgust. "Do you mean that our father knew all along about yellow-eyes selecting our brother and feeding him his blood?" She could imagine their father hiding that from them, it would explain how rough he was with Sam sometimes.

"I don't know for how long he knew about it."

Lily grimaced. With their father, no one could be fully sure about anything.

Dean continued, "Before dying, he told me that we have to protect our brother from becoming what the yellow-eyed demon wants," The blond man knew better than to admit that, for some reason, their father hadn't wanted Lily to be involved, "He seemed to think it's inevitable, but I know Sam won't become a monster. We know him. Kid's not evil."

The blonde woman wasn't sure what to think of the whole situation. She didn't understand what plans a demon could have involving other kids around the world- and why had he given them his blood. It was the first time, in her whole life, that she heard about a demon feeding humans their blood.

None of it seemed to make sense.

However, there was only one thing that she was sure of, and it was that she wasn't going to allow the demon that wrecked their lives all those years before to continue controlling them, to turn her sweet brother into a monster.

"Sam won't become what the demon wants him to, whatever that is," Lily said fiercely, locking eyes with her brother, "-because he has us to protect him."

Just how it was _supposed_ to be, how it had _always_ been, Dean and Lily, protecting their little brother against all odds, despite everything else, and against _anyone_ that dared to hurt him.

The oldest brother sighed tiredly, his face portraying how much the situation weighed on him, and moved his hands towards his sister's.

He had hidden from everyone else, especially from their father, how much he worried about their duty to protect Sam. He feared not being able to help him overcome the demon's influence, because he knew he wouldn't be able to kill him, like their father told him to, if he indeed was to become a monster. But that was _Lily_ , with her he knew he could admit his real fears without worrying about judgement.

"I can't lose Sam, Lily," He said quietly, brokenly. "I need you here with us, to help me protect him. Things are far more difficult now than they were before. I-I can't do this alone anymore."

In that moment, she regretted- more than ever before- having abandoned them. Her brothers had needed her, especially the oldest of them, and she hadn't been there for them. It made her feel like the worse person in the whole world, and perhaps, considering all that had happened, she was.

She squeezed Dean's hand reassuringly, giving him a soft, gentle look. "You won't have to do this alone anymore. I'm here now."

* * *

...

* * *

Once the four hunters had bathed and tended to their wounds, they abandoned the hotel, driving towards a restaurant by the other side of Campus, where they would eventually separate after having one last meal together. Bobby was going back to his house to prepare for a new case, and the Winchesters had planned to drive around, looking for another case.

Lily and Sam sat together in a booth, Bobby and Sam moving to sit across from them.

"You're paying for my food," The blonde woman told her younger brother, "Consider it your apology to me for behaving like a brat earlier."

Sam gave her one of his infamous bitch-faced looks. "Yeah? What about your apology to me? I'm still waiting."

"I already apologized," Lily bumped her shoulder against him teasingly, "You simply didn't hear me."

"Right, I'm sure," Sam said sarcastically.

"Children," Dean said, equally sarcastic, "Behave."

Bobby gave them an amused look, a small smile crossing his face.

A new text message made the young woman take her phone out of her pocket, and start searching to see what it was about. Sam took advantage of the situation and told the waitress that _she_ would pay for _his_ food, while Dean sniggered, and Bobby rolled his eyes. Lily heard their laughter, and imagined that her brother had probably done something, but she concentrated on the text once she realized who it was from.

 ** _Please, Lily. There's something here, it won't leave me alone. I don't know what to do anymore, I'm scared. You have to help me._**

She scowled, looking up. "Bobby, are you sure you didn't find anything on Caleb's house?"

Dean looked up from the menu he held. "He's texting you- _again_?"

Bobby raised his eyebrows, seemingly exasperated. "Like I said, there was no EMF and no other traces of any paranormal activity there. He seemed rather peaceful, too."

"Maybe it's a lie," Sam said quickly, disregarding his menu once he found what he wanted to eat. "Maybe he just wants you to visit him and knows that the only way for that to happen is if there's something hunting him down."

"Somehow that seems unlikely coming from him," Lily hesitated.

Caleb had never been one to lie about the supernatural, he was thoroughly frightened with the possibility of something attacking him, for which she believed his text.

An annoyed sigh left her mouth, her body already rejecting her choice to go to his place to see what was happening. She _didn't_ want to see him- she didn't want him on her life again. But if she ignored him and there was actually something there, she would never forgive herself for leaving him unprotected.

There were a million things telling her not to engage, not to go and look for Caleb, for it would only remind her of the toxicity of their relationship, but she couldn't bring herself to leave an innocent human unprotected against demons.

Her brothers knew her choice before she even opened her mouth.

"Do you want us to go with you?" Dean inquired, though he seemed not to want to leave before eating.

"No, no, it's fine," Lily brought her jacket closer to her as she stood from the booth. "I'll go alone, in case Sammy's right and he just wants to talk."

Bobby scoffed, muttering under his breath something that sounded an awfully lot like, "Persistent little shit," making the boys hide their chuckles.

The blonde woman gave him an amused look, then walked away from the restaurant, moving towards the parking lot in search for her car.

Once inside, Lily drove towards Caleb's house, which wasn't too far from the restaurant, and attempted to push back all the unwanted memories of their time together that were coming back to her.

She really- _really_ \- didn't want to go to his place, not after successfully avoiding him through the whole week she stayed in Springfield, but there was nothing else to be done about the situation. By dating him, she had made him a vulnerable target to all of her previous enemies. It was her fault, so she had to fix it.

Sooner than she would've liked, she arrived at Caleb's house.

It was in a nice neighborhood, perhaps too nice considering the limited salary he received for working as a janitor in campus, but his whole family had helped him buy his dream house. His mother had told Lily that he deserved it; _only the best of things for the best of sons_ , or some bullshit like that. She had never liked them, they were too rich, too perfect, too normal.

They represented everything she couldn't have, so being around them always made her extremely self-conscious and uncomfortable. Caleb never understood her perspective, going as far as to fight with her when she seemed not to want to spend time with his family.

 _Those were the times_ , she thought sarcastically as she parked in front of the house.

The young woman hated herself for it, but she couldn't bring herself to leave the car for a few minutes. It had been a long time- too much time having passed for her to correctly guess just how many years- since she'd been there. There were too many memories, both good and bad, for her to simply approach like that place never mattered to her.

She had wanted to belong there, once. But it wasn't a life for her, and he wasn't the right man for her, either.

Finding strength in the realization that she had made the right choice when she broke up with Caleb Garcia, Lily stepped out of the car.

It was dark outside, and unnaturally cold, for which she shivered and wrapped her jacket tighter around herself. Her steps resonated through the street as she walked towards the porch, moving slowly yet deliberately.

Now there, her emotions betrayed her again, making her hesitate. Lily took a deep breath, collecting herself, and then raised her hand to knock on the door. She stopped, frowning. The door was slightly open, the first sign that there was something wrong- because her ex never, ever would be as carefree as to leave his front door open.

"Caleb?" She called cautiously, uncomfortable.

She stepped inside, closing the door behind her back as quietly as she could.

The house was just as she remembered, which made the situation a little harder than it was supposed to be. As she moved further inside, a bad feeling started to creep on her, making her unconsciously feel for her gun.

"Caleb?" She called again, harsher than she intended to.

The feeling intensified, reminding her of the presence she had felt lurking around campus and stalking her through the previous days. She took her gun out, thoroughly concerned. She had thought that, perhaps, that presence she felt had been a trick from Loki to make her trust him, but he was _dead_ \- and she still felt it following her around. It was _real_ , and it was targeting her.

"CALEB?" She exploded, overwhelmed with the dangerous- yet familiar- sense of power that she felt.

"I'm here," Caleb's voice called from the other room, too calmly for her liking. She stiffened. "I'll be there in a minute. Wait for me in the living room."

 _So he's fine_ , Lily thought, heart hammering wildly. _Sam was right_.

Her adrenaline started to wear off, though she remained incredibly nervous. She moved her gun back to her pocket, but didn't lower her guard. The feeling of being watched remained, as well as the gut-feeling that was alerting her of upcoming danger.

Unconsciously, she guided her fingers towards her necklace, gingerly touching it as she moved to sit in one of the couches in the living room.

"Are you okay?" She called, wanting to make sure that her ex-boyfriend was fine. "I received your text."

He answered, but there was something wrong with his voice. It was rougher than usual, almost bordering on a southern accent. Caleb _didn't_ have a southern accent- he was _Latino_. His accent was much more different than the one she heard, and it never gave her the goosebumps as it did then.

Instantly, she stood from the couch, alarmed.

There was something wrong- that wasn't Caleb.

Before Lily could run towards the other room, where she had heard him moving, something fell from the ceiling and into her nose. Scowling, she moved her hand over the liquid, only to freeze once she realized it was a drop of blood.

 _"Daddy, there's someone in the house."_

 _John's blood went cold, startled by those words. Out of everything he would've imagined her to say, he never fathomed hearing something of the such. But then, he realized what was happening, and a soft, amused smile appeared on his face. His daughter was growing up and reaching the stage where she was scared of the monsters under her bed or inside her closet. Her older brother was just in that stage, so the father considered himself almost an expert consoling his children._

 _"No, baby," He said gently. "There's no one else here. It's only a bad dream."_

 _She shook her head, looking nervous and scared as she held tighter into his embrace. "No, daddy. When mommy went to give me a goodnight kiss, there was a man watching her in the shadows. Mommy didn't see him. It followed mommy out of the room and then disappeared."_

 _The young man shook his head, gently moving a hand over her cheeks to clean the remaining tears away. "You were already asleep when mommy went to give you a kiss, baby. Remember? We were watching cartoons with your brother downstairs and you fell asleep, so I carried you to your room."_

 _But the small child was stubbornly convinced of what she had seen. "No, daddy, the yellow-eyed man woke me up and followed mommy."_

Breathless at the familiarity of the situation, she started to hyperventilate, moving backwards. _No, please, no_. She looked up, unable not to, and the sight she was met with brought too many memories from her past.

Caleb- the real one- was stuck to the ceiling, a look of pain across his face, lifeless eyes staring right back at her. Blood was coming out of a cut on his stomach, and fire was starting to envelop him from the inside out.

Lily screamed, falling backwards as the fire exploded all around the house. Her instinct of survival was telling her to get up and leave, but she remained on the floor, trembling. Memories of her mother burning on the ceiling came back, mixing with the image of her ex-boyfriend going through the same- and she couldn't bring herself to _move_.

 _"Take your brother and sister outside as fast as you can and don't look back!" John instructed the older sibling, who remained frozen on his spot at the harsh tone of voice his father had used with him. "Now, Dean! Go!"_

 _The blond boy took on a run, holding between his arms his younger brother, and looking over his shoulder every five seconds to make sure his sister was following them. She was slower than he was, but the three of them managed to get outside of the house faster than they ever had before._

 _They stopped in front of the house, watching the window of the baby's nursery, from where the fire came from._

 _The baby on his arms started to make soft wailing noises, to which he carefully left a kiss on his forehead. "It's okay, Sammy. It's gonna be okay. We're here." He looked up to meet his sister's gaze. "Are you hurt, Lily?"_

 _She shook her head, still crying, "Mommy," which was the only thing she could bring herself to say, remembering over and over again the scene she had seen but couldn't understand completely due to her young age. She couldn't stop crying because she thought her mother was hurt, because her mother didn't move an inch when she called out her name, because their father was still inside the house._

 _"It's okay," Dean drew her into a hug, carefully making sure that Sam remained between them unharmed and uncrushed. He was concerned about their mother too, but hoped that their father's delay meant he was helping her out of the house. "We're gonna be okay."_

Lily regained her senses and started to move. The fire had spread through the whole living room, surrounding her.

She stood with trembling legs, coughing once the smoke started to block her air.

Suddenly, someone appeared in front of her, and she squinted her eyes, attempting to see through the fog of smoke.

"I'm sorry, little Winchester. It's nothing personal." It was a tall, middle-aged man with shoulder-length greying hair and a short beard. There was a V shaped scar on his face, but the one thing that frightened the young woman to her core was the color of his eyes- they were _yellow_.

Suffocating, both by the heat and the smoke, the young woman stumbled back, falling into the floor once more.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to get away from the flames. Everything and everywhere in the house was burning. She couldn't breathe. _The yellow-eyed demon?_ It couldn't be, she _remembered_ how he looked like- the imagine of him never left her mind after she saw her mother burning- and that man wasn't him. But those eyes...those eyes were unmistakably the same.

"Who are you?" She managed to say, between short intakes of breath. "W-What do you want?"

"As I said, it's nothing personal," His southern accent dripped out of him like a threat, his eyes gleaming dangerously as he observed her.

Out of options, the young woman thought about throwing herself out of a window, even though they were already consumed by flames, but she refused to even consider dying in front of a yellow-eyed demon.

"What do you want?" She snapped, breathless and out of options.

Lily couldn't die there, not when her brothers needed her.

Before she could do anything out of desperation, a pair of hands grabbed her from behind, helping her up from the floor. She tensed, thinking that another demon had appeared, but the person holding her was careful with his touch, almost gentle, and took a stance that was obviously meant to protect her.

The yellow-eyed demon grinned, looking at the person protecting her, and starting to laugh, "Very well, little Winchester. I just needed you to summon _him_."

The house exploded in flames. The young mortal woman winced, curling into her side to protect herself from the flames that would, most definitely, engulf and kill her, but the person behind her simply brought her closer to himself, protectively, and that's when she realized that the flames weren't touching them. She looked up, only to startle at the sight of her savior.

"I will give you only one warning, _Asmodeus_ ," Loki's voice was laced with such authority and strength that the demon couldn't contain the shiver that went down his spine. The archangel wanted nothing more than to smite the abomination for daring to follow and attack _his_ human, but he forced himself to remember that he needed to protect her. The heat was starting to become too much for her, if they remained there, she would lose consciousness. "If you do as much as to _look_ at her again, I will personally _destroy_ you in ways you wouldn't even dream of."

And then, with a snap of his fingers, they were gone from there.


End file.
